A New Road FEMSLASH
by sjslashfan
Summary: Sam meets up with somebody she didn't expect during the events of The Road Not Taken.
1. Among Friends

After nearly a week in the alternate reality, during which Sam had single-handedly saved earth from an Ori attack by cloaking the entire planet, she was becoming very perturbed by the martial law and lack of freedom that seemed to have become the norm in that reality. There were many similarities with her own world, but the differences were becoming ever more apparent. This world seemed harsher, more reactionary, more .. scared. She knew she couldn't cope with living there long term, and determined to do what she could to get back home.

Sam couldn't believe that this had happened to her. She had been supposed to be on light duties, following the terrible injuries she had suffered when trying to shield P9C-882 from an Ori attack. Ultimately, they had been successful, but not before she had been shot in the side by an Ori soldier. She had suffered an enormous trauma, and was barely alive when they had brought her back through the 'gate. After many surgeries, she was much improved, but was still benefiting from sessions with Vala and the healing device every few days. Finally the scarring on her back had gone, but her stomach was still a mess, and she often suffered sharp pains from the scar tissue. There was also a small residual infection which Vala was attempting to combat, but the original injury had been so severe that it was a slow business, requiring patience on all their parts. And now she had been swept up into a whole new world, and just wanted to get back, to get away from these harsher versions of the people she knew and loved.

This was not as easy as she'd hoped, however. Her 'celebrity' in this new world meant that the establishment was loath to let her go. She was the new 'poster girl' for the administration, and she knew that President Landry and his cohorts were prepared to exploit her to the full.

**SGSGSGSGSGSGSGSGSG**

So Sam screwed up her courage and went to visit Rodney McKay. Yes, she knew he was a difficult man at the best of times, but she also had to admit that he was a certifiable genius, and more likely than anybody else she knew to be able to help her get her life back.

She stood in his plush apartment, waiting for him. He had sure done well for himself in this reality, this apartment indicated a man of wealth, power. She looked up, and saw a sleeker, bespectacled McKay enter. "Thank you for seeing me," she said.

"Oh...why wouldn't I?" said McKay. "I mean, we're still friends, aren't we? Saw you on TV. Well, recorded you actually. Not that I-I watched it more than once. I mean I recorded it in order...to watch you once. How can I help you?"

Sam swallowed. "Well," she said, "This is gonna come as a bit of a shock, but...I'm not who you think I am."

"Oh my God," said Rodney. "You're a lesbian."

"What I'm trying to tell you," snapped Sam, "is that I'm from an alternate universe. My sexuality has nothing to do with this. Your Samantha Carter was working on an experiment when she inadvertently pulled me in."

"Is this some kind of a joke?" he asked, "It's very funny. Who put you up to this?"

Sam slowly and patiently explained what had happened in the accident, and saw his face fall when she told him that his Samantha Carter must have died. "I'm sorry," she said, putting a gentle hand on his arm. "I know you cared about her."

"So are we still together in your world?" he asked, hopefully. "Or did we divorce there too?"

Sam shook her head. "You were right about one thing. I am gay. We were never together. Though we do know each other. And I'm fond of you, though you drive me nuts on occasion."

Rodney looked shocked. "So it really is an alternate universe, then," he joked, feebly.

"It's not as strange as it sounds," Sam explained. "I've come across quite a few versions of myself, and about half of them are straight. Another of those forks in the road, I guess." She smiled.

"Okay, you need to slow down," said Rodney. "You're telling me my ex-wife is dead, even though you look exactly like her. Except for the hair, which is nice, by the way. On top of that you're from another universe and you need me to help you get back? And you're living with a woman?"

"In my reality, you successfully designed and built a bridge between parallel universes. With a little help from your sister," replied Sam. "And no, I live on my own." She looked him straight in the eye. "I did live with a woman for nearly seven years. A wonderful woman. A beautiful woman, who gave my life meaning, and whom I loved with all my heart. But she died. So now it's just me, and our daughter who is working overseas for a year. But I still need to get back. Our world is facing terrible dangers. And I need your help. I've been trying my best to recreate your calculations, but I keep coming up short. That's why I'm here."

"I have not done a lot of theoretical physics lately, okay?, Rodney baulked. "I mean, these days I tend to do a little more of the buying and selling of companies!" He looked up at Sam's pleading face. "Oh okay, I'll help you."

**SGSGSGSGSGSGSGSGSG**

Later that day, Sam returned to the SGC. She was exhausted, and the pain in her side was getting worse. The sooner she got back to her world, and Vala and the healing device, the better. So she was appalled to see that her equipment had not been returned to her lab. When she confronted President Landry, she learned that they had no intention of letting her go until it suited them. And they were prepared to blackmail McKay into refusing to help her.

A plebiscite was planned, and Landry needed his 'golden girl' to give him the necessary political punch to ensure an outright victory. "You're a member of my team," he told her. "The woman who saved the world. Do you have any idea what kind of political capital that's worth?"

"I won't help you subvert democracy," replied Sam icily, stalking out of his office. She had no idea what to do next. So she did the only thing she could think of; she went to see Cameron Mitchell.

**SGSGSGSGSGSGSGSGSG**

Mitchell was a very different man to the Mitchell she had left behind. Apart from his obvious disability, he was embittered, and he had clearly given up. But he hadn't given up his principles, Sam learned, and this inspired her to maintain her stance against a regime that was so wrong.

"I gave my legs for the freedoms we now enjoy," Mitchell told her bitterly. "It's a hell of a deal, ain't it? You're in the press a lot lately. Hey! You wanna see something funny?" he showed her a photograph of himself, in full dress blues, standing next to Landry. "Hero of the moment," he said. "Poster child for the administration."

"You were walking," Sam gasped.

"Yeah well, I had a little setback in my therapy," he said. "After Antarctica...they flew me to Washington. Pinned a medal on my chest. Next thing I knew I was being trotted out to state dinners, political rallies. I think...yeah...I think I even opened a few malls. Mr President said 'It would be good for moral, son!' Help soften the blow for keeping the Stargate secret for so long. What a...a lot of BS. And then I called him on it and they dropped me...like a rock. No more fancy dinners. No more expensive doctors. Anyway, walking is overrated. I've got everything I need right here... and I do not have to deal with curfews or military checkpoints or being detained without charge. Life is sweet."

"So you can't even afford medical care?" Sam was horrified. This man had virtually given his life in the service of his country.

"Nope," he replied. "Had a bit of luck there, though. An old friend who used to work at the SGC comes over to check on me every couple of weeks. She's due tonight in fact. She left the Stargate program before I did. You may even know her. She was a good friend of our Carter, until her daughter died, that is. Then she couldn't bear to see anyone from the SGC again."

Sam paled, and lowered herself into a chair. "Dr Fraiser?" she whispered.

"That's her. You did know her then?"

Sam nodded. "What you said.. about her daughter. Was that Cassandra?"

"Cassie, that's right," agreed Mitchell. "Sweet kid. Terrible what happened to her. Fraiser never forgave Hammond."

"What happened? Was it Nirrti?" Sam asked, dreading the answer. Her Cassie had come close to dying when Nirrti experimented on her, and it was only Hammond's agreement that Nirrti would be freed in exchange for healing her that saved her life. Mitchell told her the full story, and also how Janet had tried to take matters into her own hands, threatening Nirrti with a gun.

"Court-martialed?" Sam asked, in horror. "They court-martialed her for trying to save her own daughter?"

"Nah, it didn't come to that in the end," he said, "but she had to leave. Not that she would have stayed after that anyway, with no support from anybody except Carter. Our Carter that is. She made formal complaints, taking them to the highest level. Nearly got kicked out herself, only thing that saved her was the fact she was needed for the fight against the Ori. Fraiser's been working at the local emergency room since then. And of course making the odd house call. She won't take any money for it either, she makes sure I get all the drugs I need. She's a good friend."

Sam didn't know what to do with this information. It was all too much to take in. Janet alive? Cassie dead? And Mitchell crippled and bitter, Vala in prison, Daniel still missing, Teal'c back on Chulak.

"I'm sorry," she said, standing up and putting her hand on his shoulder. "I shouldn't have come. I'll go now, and..."

At that moment, the doorbell rang. "It's only me," called a too-familiar voice. "I'm letting myself in."

Panicked, Sam tried to disappear into herself. In seconds, the door was open and.. Janet was standing there. Sam couldn't speak. "Sam", said Janet quietly. "You're the last person I expected to see. You look different."

"That's because she is different, Janet," said Mitchell. "She's from an alternate universe. She's not our Carter. Our Carter's dead."

"What?" cried Janet, a look of pain flashing across her eyes. "How can she be dead?"

"It's true," said Sam, quietly. "I'm sorry, Janet, more than you can know." And she tried to excuse herself. However, as she headed toward the door, another spasm of pain twisted her side, and involuntarily she reached out to the wall for support.

"What's wrong?" demanded Janet.

Sam pulled herself together. "Nothing," she said, "just an old injury. Bit of scar tissue playing up. I'm fine." And she straightened up.

"Wait," called Mitchell. "Take this. You never know if you might need it." He handed Sam a cellphone. "It's unregistered. In case you need to make any calls you don't want them to know about." Sam nodded her thanks.

"Sam," called Janet. "I don't know what's going on. I don't even know who you really are. Cam'll explain to me. But if you need me for anything, call me." She passed her a card. "I can be with you, any time of the day or night. If that injury needs attention, you know where I am. Be kind to yourself," she pleaded, looking into Sam's blue eyes.

Sam nodded, and left. Out in the corridor, she had to take several deep breaths before going outside. She called Landry's aide. "I'll do it. The interviews, the TV appearances. I'll play ball."

**SGSGSGSGSGSGSGSGSG**

Of course, the TV interview with Julia Donovan from 'Inside Access' did not go the way the administration had planned. Sam used the opportunity to beg the American people to stand up against the loss of democracy, and to fight for freedom once more. Unfortunately for Sam, the plug was pulled before the interview went out, so her attempts were in vain.

She went home, despondent and depressed. She was tired, and the pain in her side was worse than ever. She could really do with some heavy-duty painkillers, but she had nothing stronger than Tylenol. She took a couple and went to bed, there was nothing more she could do today.

By 1am, she had to admit to herself that she wasn't going to be able to get to sleep with the pain now a constant. Reluctantly, she pulled out Cameron's cellphone, and dialled the number on Janet's card. The phone was answered almost immediately. "You did say any time," she tried to joke.

"Sam?" asked Janet. "You okay?"

"Not really," admitted Sam. "Just wondering if I could get some painkillers from you? It won't go, I just need something to dull it. I'm sorry to ask you. I just won't want any of 'them' to find out. They can't know I've got a weakness, it'll make it harder for me to get back."

"I'll be right there," replied Janet.

"You don't have to come," Sam panicked. "Could you just send them in a cab, get the driver to drop them off with Joe in the parking garage? I can trust him, he'll bring them up to me."

Janet took down Sam's address, but ignored her instructions about getting a cab. She collected her bag, and made her way to Sam's apartment. She entered the building via the parking garage, with the avuncular Joe showing her up the back staircase. There was no need to alert the authorities to her visit.

**SGSGSGSGSGSGSGSGSG**

It was 1.30am when she knocked on Sam's apartment door, and the door was answered by Sam in her robe, looking pale and exhausted.

"I told you not to come," said Sam.

"I know," replied Janet. "But I'm not in the habit of handing out strong narcotics without even examining the patient. So let me have a look, huh?" She put her hand gently on Sam's arm, to try and reassure her that she was on her side.

Sam nodded. "So what happened to cause this injury?" asked Janet. "It'll help if I've got some background."

Sam told her about P9C-882, and how she had nearly died. "Thought my number was up," she told Janet. "I thought Cassie was going to be an orphan." Janet nodded. Cameron Mitchell had told her about the death of Janet in Sam's reality.

"We're going to get you back there, safe and sound, Sam," Janet reassured her. "One way or another, we're going to get you back there. Now lie back for me so I can have a look."

Sam laid down uneasily on the couch, and tried not to notice Janet's hands on her as she lifted her pajama top to expose the mosaic of scars on her stomach. It had been three years since she had felt Janet's touch, and it was too much for her; a single tear tracked down her cheek.

"That hurt?" Janet misunderstood. Sam shook her head. Janet looked down, and was horrified to see what Sam must have suffered, especially if this was after weeks of healing. She gently palpated the area, and could feel the mass of scar tissue beneath the skin. As she moved to the bottom right of the area, she was worried to feel the skin too warm under her fingers.

"Yeah, bit of an infection there," Sam admitted. "Vala's working on it, but it's taking its sweet time."

Janet nodded, and put her hand to Sam's forehead. She frowned when she realized Sam was running a fever. "You're feeling really lousy, right?" Sam nodded, miserably. "Antibiotics and morphine for tonight," she said. "And we'll have another look tomorrow. Once you've slept properly, I can give you some strong painkillers that won't knock you out during the day."

"No morphine," pleaded Sam. "I can't think straight with morphine."

"Only a small dose," promised Janet. "You've got to get some rest. You'll never find a way back until you're stronger. I know you're worried about nightmares," Janet knew that her Sam hated losing control, even when she was asleep, and assumed, correctly, that this Sam was the same. "I''m staying over tonight," she saw Sam about to object, "no arguments. And you'll be much better in the morning."

**SGSGSGSGSGSGSGSGSG**

Janet made herself up a bed on the couch, though she spent most of the night checking on Sam, and reassuring her when she became restless and distressed. Janet's mind was in a turmoil. She had been in love with Samantha Carter since she had first brought Cassie back from Hanka. But she knew that the young captain, as she was then, was straight and would not be interested in a relationship with her. So the women had just remained friends, with her Sam never realizing that Janet harboured deeper feelings for her.

When Cassie had died, Janet just shut down. She left the SGC, and only rarely responded to Sam's attempts to contact her. They had seen each other occasionally, but Janet's bitterness over the loss of her daughter, and Sam's guilt for remaining at an SGC that had let her friend down, meant that their meetings were rare and lacked the warm intimacy of before.

But now this new Sam had appeared, and needed her help. And Janet was a sucker for anybody in need.

Sam mumbled, and turned over. She felt blindly for Janet's hand, and pulled it to her, resting it alongside her cheek. Janet remembered that Mitchell had said that she and Sam had been together in her reality, and judging by the way Sam was gently stroking her fingers in her sleep, it looked like he was right.

**SGSGSGSGSGSGSGSGSG**

The next morning, Sam woke to the smell of coffee. She shrugged on her robe, and stumbled through to the kitchen. She was surprised to see it was nearly 1000hrs.

"Hey sleepyhead," smiled Janet. "Feeling better?"

"Much," replied Sam. "I can't thank you enough. I can hardly feel it now."

Janet went over and checked Sam's forehead with the back of her hand. "Fever's way down too," she smiled. "If we can get you back to your reality soon, Vala can deal with the remnants of the infection."

"Janet," Sam was serious. "What do you have in this reality? I know you've got no family, what have you got in the way of friends? Is there anybody here who really cares about you?"

Janet shrugged. "I had a friend. A good friend. But she died. Though we hadn't seen much of each other recently. Things happened. Nothing's really been right since Cassie died." She swallowed and looked away.

"Then come back with me," Sam took her hand. "I don't mean as my lover," she realized Cameron would have told her about their history. "I mean just as my friend. You were so loved, and needed, in our reality. And you are badly missed. Even now. I know you aren't the same Janet that I knew, just as I'm not the same Sam that you knew. But there are enough similarities. And this world is not right for you. You aren't hard enough to survive here. We need you back with us. Apart from anything, Dr Warner's about to retire, and Landry's having a hell of a job finding a replacement for him. What d'you think?"

Janet shook her head. "It wouldn't work Sam. What about Cassie?" Janet had often wondered how Cassie would have grown up. This could be her chance to find out. "She's already lost two mothers," Janet went on. "I can't expect her to accept me all over again. And I'm not sure that I could see her... after all that happened with my Cassie. It would seem too much like I'm trying to replace her."

Sam took her hand. "You can't see it like that," she said, gently. "It wouldn't be you replacing our Janet, or Cassie replacing your Cassie. You're different people. But you'd still be loved and wanted in our reality. Can you really say that about this world? Can you really say you're happy here Janet? Don't you think it's worth a try?"

Janet looked up at her, tears in her eyes. "Well, I've not got much to lose, have I? Why not?" She looked scared and small.

Sam drew her into a bear hug, causing her to wince as she caught her side unexpectedly. "Now we've just to got to persuade them to let us go."

"They won't miss me," replied Janet, ruefully. "I've been a thorn in their sides for too long. And talking of sides, let me check you over again, give you something for that."

**SGSGSGSGSGSGSGSGSG**

Sam went to 'her' lab later that day, and was startled to see McKay in there.

"What are you doing here?" she asked him, rather more sharply than she had intended.

He blushed. "Ah, it's the uh... first day on a new job. Your old job actually. Special advisor to the President. Bit of a pay cut, but...uh...well... lets just say they were uh...persuasive?"

Sam felt terrible, knowing that it was her interference that had made them think of him in the first place. "I'm so sorry," she said.

"Yeah, me too," he said. "Well, the first order of business is to create an inter-universal bridge. Something that I've done in another reality, apparently."

Sam couldn't believe her ears. They were really going to let her go. "Wow," she said, "I guess they must have realized I'm more trouble than I'm worth."

"I remember I said the same thing the day we got divorced," Rodney joked.

"Just one thing," Sam pleaded. "Give me some warning when it'll be ready. There's somebody I want to bring along with me. No," she reassured, "the administration won't mind one bit, I'm sure. In fact, I'll go and see Landry now and get it cleared."

**SGSGSGSGSGSGSGSGSG**

Sam knocked on the door of Janet's apartment. When she opened it, Sam smiled at her. "Looks like we're going home."

"Your home," Janet smiled sadly.

"It'll be your home before you know it," Sam reassured her. "And none of us knows what the future holds, but you'll be among friends. That much I can promise you."


	2. Getting Ready

Janet's mind was in a turmoil. Only the day before, she had agreed to accompany the 'alternate' version of Sam back to her reality. In that reality, her counterpart had died, Cassie was still alive. And Sam was gay.

It was nearly ten years since she had fallen in love with her reality's Samantha Carter. When the young captain had risked all by refusing to leave the orphaned Cassandra, Janet's heart had gone out to both of them. And it had never quite recovered.

It seemed to Janet that it all been in vain. Sam was straight (even so, nobody could quite understand what had induced her to marry the obnoxious Rodney McKay, and nobody was shocked when the marriage proved to be short-lived). And her version of Cassandra had died five years ago, when Nirrti had infected her with a retrovirus. Sam had held her as she died, and for as long as Janet lived, she would never get that image out of her head.

But for this Sam, it had never happened. She had had her own tragedies, the worst of which was the death of her lover and soulmate - Janet, from the other reality.

So what the hell did she think she was doing, agreeing to go back with this Sam? Much as she would perhaps have liked to, there was no way she could replace Sam's Janet. And she had no idea how she was going to cope with seeing Cassie again. Sam had told her that she was working in Africa for a year and was not due back for another ten months, but ten months would fly by. And then what would happen? Cassie had lost her mom twice now, and Janet was under no illusions that she would welcome another one. Janet didn't want to 'replace' her Cassie anyway. She had loved the girl with all her heart and soul, and had barely been able to function in the months that followed her death. Her Sam had tried to help, but Janet had pushed her away, unable to face the fact that she loved her and could never have her. The friends gradually drifted apart, despite's Sam's best efforts to keep in contact.

And now 'her' Sam was dead, destroyed by her own experiment in her attempts to save the earth for the nth time. She had been brave, and beautiful, and selfless. And straight.

What would happen to her if she didn't go with Sam, though? Her life here was empty and miserable, her only real friend Cameron Mitchell, an embittered war veteran who resented the SGC almost as much as she did. She sometimes wondered if they had a real friendship, or if it was just bitterness that they had in common. She would miss him though, and she felt bad that she would no longer be able to tend to him medically. Since he had been abandoned by the establishment, even basic healthcare was beyond his limited means.

Then she had a flash of inspiration. She would give Cameron her apartment! She had nobody to leave it to, and due to careful investments, she had been able to pay off her mortgage years ago. She'd also leave him her other assets, that would help him build a life for himself.

The apartment would be perfect for Mitchell, with a few minor modifications - widening a couple of doors to offer wheelchair access, and swapping the tub for a wheelchair-accessible shower.

Greatly cheered, and pleased to have something positive to do, Janet picked up the phone and started dialling. There was much to do, and Sam had told her that they would likely have little more than a week before the inter-dimensional bridge would be ready to transport them to Sam's reality.

**SGSGSGSGSGSGSG**

"You did what?" Sam laughed, when Janet phoned her later that day.

"I've offered to pay them double, provided they can make the modifications to the apartment by Thursday," said Janet. "It seemed a sensible use of the money, and it's not like I can take it with me," she said. "I'd just be so much happier if I could see Cam settled before we leave. D'you think I'm being dumb?"

"Not all all," reassured Sam. "I think it's a great idea. I was just talking to Rodney about him, actually. He's agreed to bankroll all of Cam's future medical costs, so he should be back on his feet soon, at least some of the time. So how are the modifications going?"

"Apartment's in chaos, full of brick dust and bathroom piping. It's great," Janet said, with a smile in her voice. "You know, I haven't felt so positive in years."

"Positive and dirty," by the sound of it, laughed Sam. "Look, if you're in chaos, why don't you stay at my apartment? I'm hardly there anyway," she was wary of putting pressure on Janet, and in any case she couldn't work out her own feelings toward her dead lover's doppleganger. "And I've got a spare room. I'll get an airman to drop a key round to you, and you can settle in. If that's what you'd like, that is?"

"Oh that sounds great," Janet replied, relief obvious in her voice. "It's very exciting to see the changes going on here, but it's not exactly conducive to eating and sleeping! I'll make dinner tonight, if you're going to be in. Unless your culinary skills are significantly better than the Sam I used to know?"

Sam grinned. "No, I'm hopeless. Just never managed to find cooking interesting."

So a couple of hours later, Janet answered the door to an airman bearing Sam's keys, with a short note in Sam's neat handwriting explaining the security system and exhorting Janet to make herself at home.

Janet made her way over to Sam's apartment, with a few essentials, having stopped at the market for the ingredients for dinner.

**SGSGSGSGSGSGSG**

It was nearly 2200hrs by the time Sam got back from the SGC, and Janet was all ready to give her a lecture on working too hard. However, her heart melted when she saw Sam's face. The blonde was clearly exhausted, and could hardly put one foot in front of the other.

"I know, Janet, I know," she held her hands up in surrender. "I didn't mean to be this late, I just had to finish some of the simulations. We've made real good progress, you know, another four or five days should do it."

"If you're still on your feet by then," Janet scowled, but then softened and led Sam to the couch. "Sit there, relax, I'll bring you some dinner."

By the time Janet returned in less than ten minutes, bearing a tray with pasta and a glass of white wine, Sam was dozing. "Hey," said Janet softly, her hand on Sam's arm. "Just eat some of this, then you can sleep all you want."

"Not hungry," Sam mumbled, swatting Janet's arm away.

"I know, Sam," said Janet. "But you're losing weight. You need your strength if you are going to keep doing these long days. You're far too thin Sam," she pleaded.

Sam struggled to sit up. She forced herself awake. She had to admit, the pasta did smell good. "Sorry," she said. "Half asleep. This looks great," she smiled at Janet. "Thank you."

Twenty minutes later, Sam had eaten nearly two-thirds of what was on her plate, and her eyes were starting to droop again.

"Come on," said Janet, "before you fall asleep again. Let's get you to bed. I want to check your side again too, can you use something for that?"

"Wouldn't mind," admitted Sam. "It'll be good when Vala can help with the healing device. I can't wait to be back to normal."

Janet waited for Sam to finish in the bathroom, and then re-examined the wound. She gave her more painkillers and antibiotics, and switched out the light.

**SGSGSGSGSGSGSG**

By the time Janet woke at 0700hrs and made her way to the kitchen, there was a note from Sam. "Thanks for last night, just what I needed. Sorry I was such a washout. See you later. S xx."

Janet had another busy day, seeing lawyers, drawing up the transfer of her apartment and assets to Cameron, and checking on the modification work being done on the apartment. Everything was progressing smoothly, and Cam would be able to move in in three days, so the builders promised. Janet was relieved. She knew that her apartment building, with its elevators and parking garage would mean greater freedom for Cam and this, combined with the new, expensive, doctors would open up his whole life.

Cameron had initially tried to refuse Janet, but when she explained that she was leaving anyway, and that otherwise all her assets would go to the state, he reluctantly agreed. And now, he was becoming quite excited about his new life. Janet had also not failed to notice a spark between him and one of her nurses, so she was optimistic that he would not be alone for too much longer.

On her way back from handing in her notice at the hospital (fortunately she had accrued over six weeks' holiday, so could leave as soon as she wanted), Janet dropped in on Cameron unexpectedly. She was surprised, and thrilled, to find him clean-shaven and sporting a new, short, haircut. "What the hell," he was embarrassed, "thought I'd try and look my best to say goodbye to you and Carter. Given up smoking too," he smiled. "Wanted to give my body every chance."

Tears sprang to Janet's eyes. She enveloped him in a huge hug. "You'll be back to your old self in no time," she said, huskily. "And for God's sake call Sharon. She's had her eye on you for months."

**SGSGSGSGSGSGSG**

By 2130hrs, there was still no sign of Sam, so Janet called her on her cellphone. "What time did you start work this morning"? she demanded sharply when Sam answered.

"Er, about 0615hrs, I think," Sam was confused. "Why?"

"I'm coming to get you," Janet replied. "You need food, and rest, in that order."

When Janet arrived at the SGC, she was ushered down to Sam's lab. The guards knew her of old, and had been alerted by Landry that she was to be allowed access. As far as he was concerned, the sooner the two women were out of his hair, the better.

Sam was hunched over a computer screen, and visibly jumped when Janet came up behind her. "Sorry, Janet," she said, "I'm nearly done."

"Two minutes, tops," said Janet, "and then I'm unplugging you."

Sam smiled. Her face was white, dark circles under her eyes. She was also pressing on her side, though she tried to hide that from Janet. "Okay, I give in. I'm coming now."

Sam slept most of the way home in the car, and resisted Janet's attempts to get her to eat. "I'm a little queasy," she finally admitted. "Don't think food is what I need."

Janet nodded, and led her to the bedroom, where the exhausted woman changed and went into the bathroom to wash up. When she returned, Janet was brandishing a syringe. "What's in there?" Sam asked.

"Morphine," said Janet grimly. "No arguments. And more antibiotics too, that infection's not getting any better. I know you want to get back Sam," she laid a gentle hand on her arm, "but you're making yourself sick."

Sam nodded. "I just want to get back before they change their minds. Landry's a loose cannon, and I can't risk being stuck here. We're nearly there now. May even be tomorrow."

"Well you're sleeping until 0900hrs tomorrow," said Janet. "Then we'll discuss it. At breakfast. I'm doing pancakes."

Sam was already asleep.

Janet turned off all four of Sam's alarm clocks (four? since when did she need four?), and switched out the light.

Three times during the night, Janet heard Sam moaning in her sleep, and came through to her room and soothed her back to sleep. Morphine often gave her nightmares, but Janet had judged it essential to dull the pain that was clearly increasing every day. By the third time, Janet gave up on sleep, and pulled up a chair next to Sam's bed. She took the taller woman's hand and held it between her own, which seemed to settle her. It was 0940hrs when Janet jerked awake, to see Sam bringing her a cup of coffee. "Sorry about last night," Sam said, "bad day all round I think."

"And today?" Janet asked.

"Much better," said Sam. "Raring to go. Once you've made me pancakes, that is!"

Janet smiled.

**SGSGSGSGSGSGSG**

Finally, everything was finalized at the lawyer's office, and Janet drove round to drop everything off to Cameron. She was delighted when a slightly red-faced Sharon answered the door. "Well, it was your idea," called Cam.

"And one of my better ones too," laughed Janet.

She handed over all the paperwork and keys to him, and bid him and emotional farewell. "Car'll be yours too soon," she told him, "you'll get a call to say it's been found in the SGC parking lot."

"Well, you'd better see this now, then," said Cameron, and slowly, carefully, levered himself out of the chair onto his sticks. "This is just the beginning. I'll be back playing soccer before you know it! Even if it's only table soccer." He laughed, ruefully, but with a real twinkle in his eye.

Janet left his apartment, very moved, but feeling more positive than she had in a long time.

**SGSGSGSGSGSGSG**

Janet's cellphone rang about 1520hrs. "You ready?" an excited Sam demanded. "It's working!"

"Already?" Janet was shocked, she'd thought it would be several more days. "Yes, why not? I'll be there in 15."

As Janet strode down the halls of the SGC, she had a feeling of freedom, of excitement, and a complete acceptance that the future was totally unknown. She and Sam had not promised each other anything, but even if they were no more than friends, that was a lot more than this reality had to offer.

She knocked on the door, and saw Sam's pale, but triumphant face. She put her hand in hers. "Let's get you back to that infirmary, huh?" Sam nodded. She was going home.


	3. Home Sweet Home

There was a flash of light, and suddenly Sam and Janet found themselves... back where they started. But this time Dr Lee was in front of them, pacing up and down with headphones and a radiation detector.

"Dr Lee!" called Sam.

"You're back!," he grinned widely. Then he looked confused. "Dr Fraiser?" he asked.

"Yes and no," replied Janet, with a smile.

"Can you alert Landry I'm back?" asked Sam, wincing as she lowered herself into a chair. "I just want to give him a quick heads-up on the situation..."

"... before I drag you to the infirmary," Janet finished her sentence. Sam smiled wanly at her.

"Well we're here," she said softly to Janet, as Dr Lee scuttled out of the room to get the general.

"Looks like it," Janet replied. "Now I've just got to make it work."

"It'll work," reassured Sam. "People in this reality are much... well, nicer. More caring. And Landry's a good commander, he's a much better man than your President Landry."

As if on cue, Landry appeared at the door.

"Colonel Carter!", he boomed. "I'm delighted to see you back where you belong. Though you don't look well," he looked anxious. "And who is this you've brought with you?"

"Long story, sir," Sam said, tiredly. "This is an alternate-reality version of Dr Janet Fraiser."

"Fraiser, who died on P3X-666?" he asked. "The same Fraiser who adopted Cassandra and who was your..."

"The very same," Sam said. "But of course different. If you follow me. I've just spent the last two weeks in a very different reality to this one. You were president," she smiled.

"President, huh?" he looked pleased. "You know, I don't think that's a job I'd care for."

"Certainly not in that reality, anyway," Sam said.

"Look, sir," Janet interrupted. "I'm sorry to butt in, but Sam really should be in the infirmary. And I know you need to check me over, make sure I'm not a Gou'auld, or an Ori or anything. But I'd really like to supervise her care. She needs Vala to help her with the healing device as soon as possible."

"Of course," the general replied. He had noticed the pained look in Sam's eyes, and the sheen of sweat on her brow. "Dr Lee," he barked. "Get a med team here right away. Dr Fraiser," he looked at Janet, "will you allow us to scan you for parasitic infections, and to take a blood sample?" Janet nodded her assent. "We'll have to talk in-depth about clearance soon, but that'll do for the moment, if Colonel Carter will vouch for you?"

"Absolutely, Sir," said Sam.

"That's settled then. Dr Fraiser, please accompany this airman for the screening, then as soon as you're ready, you can see to Colonel Carter in the infirmary. She should be settled in by the time you're done. I'll leave instructions that you are to be in charge of her care. I'm afraid the bad news is that SG-1, including Vala Mal Doran, are on a mission. They're not due back for three days, but I'll make every effort to contact them and get them back here as soon as possible."

Every day, Landry thought, the SGC threw up a new surprise for him. At least this job was never boring. And he didn't think he'd really enjoy being president. There'd be no time left for his plants at all.

**SG SG SG SG SG SG SG SG**

Despite her protests, Sam was helped into a wheelchair and taken to the infirmary, where she was dressed in scrubs and settled into bed while Janet was scanned and a blood test taken. In less than an hour, Janet was by her side. "Not a Gou'auld then?" Sam joked, feebly.

"No!" Janet grinned. "Though who knows what the blood test will show?" Sam attempted a smile, but Janet could tell the pain was worse than ever.

"How long 'til Vala gets here?" Janet asked Sam.

Sam shook her head, "Dunno," she said. "Sooner the better. Landry thinks he can get her back by midday tomorrow, assuming the long-range radios work. They're a long way from the 'gate, apparently."

"Okay," Janet said, falsely cheery. "We need to make you comfortable until then." She took Sam's temperature and frowned.

"Antibiotics stopped working?" Sam asked, astutely.

"Not as well as they should be," Janet hedged. "If only I could try a different combination, but Jolinar put a stop to that."

When Jolinar had infested Sam all those years ago, she had not only left her with some very disturbing memories, she had also left Sam with an intolerance to many medications, with antibiotics in particular reacting very badly. Through a harrowing process of trial and error, Janet had finally hit on one that Sam could still tolerate, but of course long-term use eventually became ineffective.

"I think the best thing right now would be to give you something for the pain, and a light sedative. Sleep's your best bet right now," Janet told Sam. "You'll feel much brighter after a few hours. And you don't have to get up early to work on that damn bridge with McKay!"

"Thank God for small mercies," Sam agreed.

"Don't suppose you feel like eating anything?" Janet asked, knowing the answer.

"Maybe tomorrow," Sam stalled. "Just want to sleep now".

So Janet hooked her up to an IV, which provided pain relief, a light sedative and IV nutrition.

She settled down to watch over her patient, her mind in a whirl. Already this new reality seemed friendlier than her own. She decided she likely had made the right decision.

**SG SG SG SG SG SG SG SG**

About an hour later, there was a light rap on the doorframe, and Janet was startled to see O'Neill at the door. "Sir," she said, unable to think what to say.

"So it's true," he smiled. "Old Doc Fraiser back where she belongs. C'mere."

And he enveloped the shocked medic in a big bear hug. "Not been the same here without ya, doc," he drawled, laconically, his demeanour belied by the tears in his eyes.

"I'm not the same Janet," Janet tried to explain.

"Yeah, yeah, alternate realities, yadda yadda," he demurred. "You still look pretty good to me." He became serious. "How is she, doc?" he motioned to a sleeping Sam. "I'm back in the Springs for a couple of weeks, and just got the call that she came back from wherever she was, but now they tell me she's sick."

"It's the Ori injury playing up," Janet explained. "She's in quite a lot of pain, and I don't seem to be able to combat the infection any more. She had a rough time in our reality, hasn't been able to take care of herself. But once she's had a few sessions with Vala, she should be fine. It's just unfortunate she's had to leave it so long between sessions. And now Vala's on a mission, they're trying to track her down."

"I'll see what I can do to speed things up," said O'Neill. He didn't like to see his former 2IC looking so pale.

**SG SG SG SG SG SG SG SG**

"They're how far from the 'gate?" exploded O'Neill. "That'll take them 18 hours on foot, and that's if they start now. General," he looked imploringly at Landry. "What d'you say I take Carter's Harley and go pick up Vala? I know the terrain's too rough for a Hummer, but the Harley can handle most things. Carter won't mind."

"That's very irregular," Landry tried to protest. "But seeing as you could pull rank on me, AND I need Colonel Carter back to full strength so she can explain all this Fraiser/alternate reality business to me, yes, go ahead. But be careful. If you put a scratch on that thing, you'll have Carter to explain yourself to."

**SG SG SG SG SG SG SG SG**

Sam was restless and feverish, but Janet didn't want to give her any more drugs; she was already on hefty pain relief through the IV and, since Jolinar, was only able to take small amounts of sedatives. They'd just have to sit it out until Vala came back. She pulled up a chair next to Sam's bed, and pulled the curtain round from some privacy. Taking Sam's hand, she held it between her own, stroking the long elegant fingers gently.

Sam slept fairly soundly for a few hours, but awoke around 0100hrs, disoriented and in pain. Her fever remained high, and she seemed confused about where she was. Janet was immediately at her side. "J'net?" Sam rasped. "Not real. Died on 666. Lost everything." She turned away.

"Shh, Sam," Janet soothed. "Alternate realities, remember? We'll talk about it properly in the morning. You just need to try and sleep now. Vala will be back to fix you tomorrow, you just need to hang in there. It's going to be okay Sam, I promise you."

Sam turned back to Janet, confused. Then she nodded. "I remember. Hurts so much. Feel sick."

"You want to throw up?" Janet asked, looking round for an emesis bowl.

"No," whispered Sam. "Want this to be over. Stay with me Janet, hold me. I need you."

So much for staying just friends, Janet thought. She and Sam hadn't yet really spoken about a possible relationship in the future. They had, sensibly, known that Janet's decision to come to this reality should be based on more than just a desire to be with Sam. After all, there was Cassie to consider, and there was no way either of them wanted to do anything to make the young woman's life more difficult, she'd suffered enough. Cassie was doing a year's voluntary work in Africa, but would be back in 10 months' time, so a decision would be needed before then.

But now Sam was asking Janet to hold her, and there was no way Janet was going to refuse her. They could talk about the future properly when Sam had recovered. So she sat gingerly on the edge of the bed, and gathered the taller woman into her arms, resting Sam's head on her lap. She ran her fingers gently through Sam's hair, and wiped the sweat away from her brow and her face. "S'nice," said Sam sleepily. "Love you Janet."

The next time Sam woke, she was still in Janet's arms. "Shh," Janet said. "Try and sleep again, it's only 0400hrs, you need your sleep. Vala should be here before you know it."

"She's here now," called an English accent from the doorway. "And at your service. You must be the famous Dr Fraiser?" Vala asked.

"In a way," replied Janet shyly, climbing carefully off the bed, without letting go of Sam's hand. "You're earlier than we thought."

"The general appeared out of the shadows on a huge motorbike," Vala said, "like something out of a movie. Stonking bike, by the way Samantha. Very impressive. Never mind that, anyway," she went on. "O'Neill's collecting the healing device, are you ready to start?"

"Sure am," whispered Sam. "I never thought I'd say this, Vala, but I've really missed you. And not just because of the device."

"We missed you too, Samantha," replied Vala. "And when you're feeling better, I'll tell you exactly how much. I think you'll be quite amused."

**SG SG SG SG SG SG SG SG**

Vala's first session with Sam was a long one, but Janet was delighted to note that it had made a huge difference. Her fever was way down, and she no longer had that look of pain - and fear - in her eyes.

"She'll probably sleep for the best part of 18 hours straight," Vala told Janet. "And I think we should try to do this every day for a week, and then every couple of days after that for a while."

At the end of her first week of treatment, Sam begged to be released from the infirmary. "I'm fine, now," she said, "and I'll go stir-crazy there. I'll stay in my quarters if you don't want me to go home, but please let me out of there."

Janet agreed, filled with relief that her friend was on the mend. She had had a busy week herself, with endless briefings with General Landry, sorting out temporary accommodation at the SGC, and getting to know her colleagues all over again. Fortunately, the administration had agreed to let her stay, in fact, they had seemed very enthusiastic about it.

She had accepted a job at the SGC, on the proviso that her position would be reviewed in six months' time; she still didn't know how she would cope with being back in the military world. The people here seemed very different to most of those she had left behind, but she found it difficult to forget her last, horrific, days at the SGC when Cassie had died in her Sam's arms.

As for Cassie, this was something else Janet had to face up to. Cassie did not yet know about Janet's 'return' to this reality, it was something Sam wanted to tell her face to face and, as she'd been stuck in the infirmary, she hadn't been able to talk to her through a webcam. Sam had had one brief conversation on the phone with her, reassuring her that she had returned in one piece, and had promised to chat to her properly once she'd been released.

It was with some trepidation that Sam switched on her computer, and dialled Cassie in Africa. "Hey Cass," she smiled, as her daughter's eager face appeared on her screen.

"Hi Sam," said Cassie, "you're looking good. Warner fix you up then?"

"I'm feeling great, Cassie," Sam told her. "Not Warner though. That's what I want to talk to you about. You know I was stuck in an alternate reality for a couple of weeks?"

Cassie nodded. "Sure."

"Well, I brought somebody back with me."


	4. One Day at a Time

"What d'you mean you brought somebody back with you, Sam?" asked Cassie through the webcam. "I thought you couldn't bring anybody, entropic thingie."

"Entropic cascade failure," said Sam. "That's true, it can be a real problem. But only if the person's counterpart exists in this reality. It's not an issue if they've died."

Cassie paled. "Not... Mom?" she asked. Suddenly, she looked furious. "How could you, Sam. What, you were lonely, thought you'd get yourself a new wife? Get a nice easy replacement? Pretend 666 never happened?"

Sam was horrified. She had had no idea that Cassie would react in this way. "Cassie," she started, but her voice broke. Cassie looked up.

"Oh my God, Sam. I'm so sorry. I didn't mean that. I just... I don't know. I mean, Mom's still dead, isn't she?" the young woman suddenly looked like a child again. She was almost begging Sam to tell her no, her mother was alive again, and everything would go back to the way it had been. Before 666. Before all their lives fell apart.

"Yes, sweetie, she's dead. She died on that planet, and there's nothing any of us can do to get her back."

"So why, Sam?" asked Cassie. "Why did you bring ... her... back. I know you're lonely. I'm sorry I moved away. I can come back, if you need me?"

Sam was so touched by her daughter's offer. "No, Cass, you're where you want to be. And you're doing a wonderful job." Sam was so proud of her daughter, who was teaching in a small village in Tanzania. "It's nothing to do with being lonely. We're not 'together'. But that reality was awful, Cass. She wasn't really living, she was just existing. I couldn't leave her behind. She's so like your mom, she's not the same person, but she's still a remarkable woman. And she was so unhappy there." Sam took a deep breath. "I don't know how to tell you this, Cass, but her Cassandra died a few years ago, when Nirrti experimented on her. Her life has been pretty empty. And the government there is really scary, there's no freedom. No joy."

"What about you?" Cassie asked. "Isn't she with you in that reality?"

"No, honey. In that reality, their Samantha Carter is straight. She actually married Rodney McKay."

Cassie looked up, startled, and then her face broke into a smile. "Now I know you're kidding me."

Sam laughed, "It's true, Cass, though I could hardly believe it. Marriage didn't last though, no surprises there."

"But you two are still friends, though?" Cassie was more confused. Was it the results of entropic cascade failure that had put Sam in the infirmary for a week after she returned back?

"They were friends, Janet told me, though the friendship fell off a lot after Janet left the SGC after Cassie died. But their Samantha Carter was killed in the accident when I was pulled into their reality. It really is a very different place. Some things are exactly the same, some things are completely different."

"So where is she now?" asked Cassie in a small voice. "I don't have to talk to her, do I?"

"She's here at the SGC at the moment, she's sleeping, I think. It's been real hard on her, Cass. She's trying so hard to adjust to being here. But no, you don't ever have to talk to her, or to see her. I just wanted you to know she's here, sweetie, I can't bear to keep anything from you. But you must know, she's not here to replace your Mom, nobody could ever do that, not even Janet Fraiser from another reality. We're only friends, I want you know that. I don't think I could ever love anybody the way I loved your mom anyway."

"I don't mean I _never_ want to talk to her. I just need to get my head around this," Cassie said. "Is she alright?" she added, "will she be okay there? I couldn't bear her to be unhappy. Oh God, Sam, I don't know what to think."

"She's doing her best to settle in here," Sam replied. "She's been very unhappy for such a long time. Since her Cassie died. I don't know how she feels now," Sam admitted. "I hope she's not too sad. Things are bound to be very strange for her. I wish Daniel were here," she said, but of course he was still missing. "If we could just get him back, he'd know what to do."

"It'll be okay, Sam," Cassie reassured her, looking at her parent's stricken face. "You had to bring her back. I see that. Please forgive me for what I said. It was just such a shock. And if you do get together with her, I won't mind, honestly. I want you to be happy, and if she's anything like Mom, I want her to be happy too."

"It's far too early to even think about that, Cassie. But thank you," Sam smiled, a small, sad smile. "You know, you're so like your mom. So much of her rubbed off on you."

The sirens sounded. "Unauthorized 'gate activation," screamed the tannoy.

"Damn," Sam cursed. "Cassie, I've..."

"... got to go," Cassie grinned. "I know that sound. Go. We'll speak soon. Oh, and Sam," she added, a shy smile on her face. "Tell her 'hi' from me, would you? I'm not sure how it'll all work out, but it will. I love you."

"Is there anybody with you, Cass?" Sam asked, worried about her daughter, and how she would cope with such momentous news. For once, she cursed the distance between them, she wanted nothing more than to hold Cassandra in her arms. "I don't want you to be on your own tonight."

"Rebecca's in tonight, Sam," Cassie reassured her. "I won't be alone."

So Sam headed off to the 'gate room.

**SG SG SG SG SG SG SG SG**

A deputation from the Tok'ra kept Sam unexpectedly busy until after 2300hrs, so she was not expecting to see anybody when she finally made her way to the commissary for a snack before heading to her quarters for the night. There was no way she was going to bother driving home at that hour, especially as she would be on duty again in eight hours.

So she was surprised to see Janet at a table in the corner, nursing a coffee. "Won't help you sleep, you know," she said jokingly to she small medic.

"Decaff," smiled Janet. "Following my own advice for once."

"So what brings you here at this time of night?" Sam asked. "You been busy in the infirmary?"

"Not really," Janet replied. "Just didn't want to go to bed. Too much going on," she pointed to her skull, "in here. Still can't quite get used to everything."

"Are you okay?" asked Sam, concerned. "Has anybody said, or done, anything?"

"Everybody's been lovely," Janet reassured her. "Teal'c's been spending a lot of time with me, making sure I know where everything is. Which of course I do, since it's all in the same place. But he's been very kind. And Mitchell and Vala have also been great. It's weird, seeing Cam the way he used to be, up on his feet, still full of life and enthusiasm. In some ways, I feel I want to warn him. He doesn't know it could all go wrong."

"It's not the same here," Sam reminded her gently. "We look out for each other here. And our president might be a prize idiot, but at least we haven't got martial law. Not yet, anyway. Things are better than where you come from. You just need to settle in."

"So how do I do that?" Janet looked pained, "when I can't even sleep in my own quarters."

"Well, we'll get you out of your quarters. Let's go apartment hunting on the weekend, see if you'll feel more at home with your own place. I quite like the idea of checking out the local real estate. What d'you say?"

"Okay," Janet replied, still rather glum. "It's got to be worth a try. And it'd be good to get away from the scratchy SGC blankets!" she tried to joke.

"That's settled then. I'll pick you up at 0900hrs here on Saturday. Talking of which, we need to get you a car too. Landry's agreed to a 'resettlement' allowance, let's get spending!"

"So," Janet asked the question that had been on her lips for hours. "Did you talk to Cassie?"

"Yeah," said Sam, slowly. "We talked on the webcam this afternoon. She says to say 'hi'."

"Hi?" asked Janet. "So it didn't go well then?"

"Not initially," Sam admitted. "It wasn't easy for her to take in. And to start with, she was worried that it was all part of a plan of mine to replace Janet, bury her memory, act as if she were still alive." She saw tears fill Janet's eyes. "But she didn't mean it, Janet, she was just lashing out. It's an incredibly hard thing for her to accept. She loved her mom _so_ much, she still hasn't gotten over losing her. She did tell me she understood why I asked you to come back. And she asked if you were okay, said she couldn't bear it if you were unhappy. She's not ready to talk to you yet. But she'll come round, she will. I just think we should avoid rushing her. Janet, are you okay?" Sam saw that Janet was sobbing. Without thinking, she got up and went round the table to her friend, and put her arms round her.

"I'm fine, Sam," Janet sniffed. "It's just the thought that there's a Cassie who didn't die that day. I saw her die, in my Sam's arms. She'd suffered so much, I had thought I'd be relieved when she went. But I wasn't, I would have given anything for another few minutes with her, even with the fever and convulsions. I wanted her back. My baby girl." Janet shook with the emotion, and Sam just tightened her grip.

"You'll see soon enough," Sam said quietly. "Cassie's grown into a wonderful woman, so sweet, and kind, and selfless. D'you know, this afternoon, she said she'd be happy for us to get together, because she wanted us to be happy. That must have taken her a lot to say that. And she's only been in Tanzania for a few weeks, and she's already making a big difference. Even with her trip back a few weeks ago," Sam was referring to Cassie's rush to her bedside after she'd been shot by the Ori soldier and nobody was sure she was going to make it. "Janet would have been so proud. C'mon, let's get you to bed." And Sam led Janet back to her quarters. She wanted to stay, to settle Janet properly for the night, but she knew it was too soon for such overtures. They were just going to have to wait, see what the future brought.

**SG SG SG SG SG SG SG SG**

"Dear God, that first place was a dive!" Sam laughed, as she drove down the street. "And all the walls painted red, what was that about? You'd be suicidal in hours living there."

"That's if the peeling gold-plated faucets didn't get me first," Janet laughed. "No, not for me, thank you very much. But," she added thoughtfully, "I did like the third one. I mean, not necessarily for ever, but it's clean and functional. I could see myself there for a year while I work out what I want. It's near the SGC, and it's not in 'her' old neighborhood, so there'd be no awkward questions at the market or anything. What did you think?"

"Yeah, I liked it well enough," Sam said. "And it's got two bedrooms, so you wouldn't be cramped. Look, why don't you call the realtor and tell her you'll take it? Then we can go back to my place, get some lunch, and then we'll shop for the essentials. I feel like a bit of 'retail therapy', and at least you don't have to try anything on when you're buying toasters."

Janet insisted that they stop at the market on the way, knowing that Sam's kitchen would likely boast little more than coffee and stale bread. "Look," said Sam, as they got into the kitchen. "Tomatoes!" and she triumphantly took two rather elderly tomatoes out of the refrigerator. "Not so hopeless after all."

"I'm not sure you could call that a balanced meal, though," Janet admonished. "Right, you can help prepare the salad, think you can manage that?" Sam swatted her in mock annoyance.

Janet reached over to grab the chopping board, when she suddenly caught sight of a picture of Cassie, taken less than six months ago, on a day out with Daniel and Teal'c. The young woman was wrapped in Daniel's arms, laughing at some private joke, her face lit up like a beacon.

"Oh God," Janet whispered, dropping the knife she was holding. "So she really is all grown-up." She paled and clutched at the kitchen side.

Sam was immediately at her side. "I'm so sorry, Janet," she apologized, "I didn't think. There's pictures of her everywhere. And of my Janet too. Look, let's go out for lunch, this is too much all at one go."

Janet shook her head. "No, I need to get used to this. Cassie's a very real part of this world, even if she's away at the moment. And I can tell she's the most important thing in your life, so if we're going to be friends, I have to get used to you talking about her, having photos in your house. I'd forgotten that my Sam was such a keen photographer, so I suppose that means you are too?"

Sam nodded. "Well, I've always had such beautiful subjects. I've got albums full of Cassie growing up, when you're ready we'll go through them together. I know she'll want to talk to you soon, I hope that you'll feel up to speaking to her too, after you've settled in more. She wants you to be happy."

"And I want her to be happy, too," Janet smiled. "Tell me, does she have a boyfriend?"

"No," Sam said thoughtfully. "She never has. I often wonder whether she's gay. She's very private about things like that, so I haven't asked her. She'll talk in her own time, if she's got anything to say. Though I know she's very close to a girl called Rebecca in Tanzania, they're sharing a house. So they could be together."

"Well if they are I hope Rebecca deserves her," Janet said fiercely. "If she's anything like my Cassie, she's a very special person."

"Oh she's special alright," Sam nodded. "She's been an amazing daughter to me since our Janet died. I can't tell you how much I love her."

"I can see that," Janet said. "And you've obviously been a wonderful mother to her. She's a lucky girl."

So the two women made their lunch, and sat down companionably in Sam's living room, planning a list of their purchases. It was a strange situation, for both of them. It was not time to make any decisions about the future. One day at a time. For all of them.


	5. Taking It Slowly

It was nearly two months since Janet had moved into her apartment, and she was still getting used to the differences between this world and the one she had left. On balance, she thought she had made the right decision. Nowhere was perfect, of course, but the people in this reality were kinder, more caring. She had been overwhelmed by the reception that she had received, particularly from the members of SG-1. Daniel had at last returned, amazingly unconcerned by his experience as an Ori prior, and he had been so delighted to see her. The stoic Teal'c visited her regularly, to check that she was happy, and was always offering his help. And, even though her counterpart had not known them in this reality, Cameron Mitchell and Vala had proven to be surprisingly keen to get to know her and make her part of their SGC 'family'.

Sometimes Janet wondered whether they all remembered that she wasn't the same Janet Fraiser they had lost. And then she'd catch Sam looking at her, with a small, sad, smile on her face, and she realized that she, at least, remembered. She couldn't forget. For Sam, the loss of 'her' Janet was still as raw as ever, in some ways made even more so by this Janet's return with her. So Janet knew that she had to tread carefully to stop her friend hurting even more than she already was.

Cassie was another matter. She had written Janet a beautiful letter from Tanzania, explaining honestly that she had mixed feelings about there being 'another' Janet around. But she welcomed her, and wished her true happiness. She promised Janet that she would 'phone her soon, once she had had time to digest what had happened. She then told her all about the work she was doing in Tanzania, teaching in a local school, and helping her friend Rebecca, a junior doctor, with setting up a new clinic in the village. When Sam delivered the letter to her, Janet had been startled to see that handwriting; a more mature version of the handwriting that she had known, but still, unmistakably Cassie's. It still amazed her that so many things were the same - yet some so different.

**SG SG SG SG SG SG SG SG SG SG**

Sam was having a harder time than she had anticipated. She had thought she could get used to seeing this Janet around, and that she would learn to love her as a friend, but nothing more. But this Janet had so much in common with 'her' Janet, she felt her heart breaking every time she looked at her. But she tried so hard to put her feelings to one side. If this Janet was anything like the woman she had loved, and it seemed that she was, Sam knew she would be feeling small and alone and frightened, even if she didn't admit it. So Sam forced herself to see her every day, and to offer her full and unconditional friendship. She was heartened by the difference she could see every day in Janet, as the small medic grew in confidence and settled into her new life. She had taken over smoothly from Warner on his retirement, and was back in the swing of things at the infirmary, which, Sam thought, was a huge contributory factor to her settling in. But Sam still cried herself to sleep every night, plagued by irrational thoughts that she was being disloyal to her dead wife, and finding herself missing her more and more every day. In a sick way, she almost enjoyed the pain; the worst thing that would happen would be if she started to forget her, started living happily without her. That would be the greatest betrayal of all. Which was why she must resist the temptation to get together with this Janet. Even though she was beautiful, and brilliant. And wise, and funny. Anyway, she had Cassie to think of, what would she think? Well, she already knew what she thought, though she had apologized immediately for saying it. She thought Sam was tired of mourning, and just wanted a replacement to start up her life again.

**SG SG SG SG SG SG SG SG SG SG**

"You look tired, Sam," Janet said, as she gave SG-1 their pre-mission medical. "Is that wound still bothering you?"

"No, all healed, thanks Janet," Sam smiled. "That healing device really is miraculous. Thanks to Vala."

"I always told you I could work miracles, Samantha," Vala shouted from the other side of the curtain.

"So?" Janet asked.

"Just didn't sleep too well last night, Janet, nothing to worry about," Sam reassured her. "Bit of fresh air on 493 will wake me up, I just need some exercise."

The mission was an easy one, just delivering supplies to SG-5, who were looking at some interesting remains on the planet. Sam suspected Daniel would beg to be allowed to stay with them for a few days, and noticed that his backpack was bulging; he had clearly brought along his sleeping bag just in case. What Daniel didn't know was that Sam had already spoken to Landry and agreed a three-day stay for Daniel, though she, Mitchell and Vala would be back within eight hours.

**SG SG SG SG SG SG SG SG SG SG**

Sam did look refreshed when the three of them returned through the 'gate. As Janet cleared her as fit, she smiled, "you were right about the fresh air, Sam, it's done you the world of good." Sam seemed to have regained some of her sparkle.

Sam showered and changed, then made her way down to her lab. She was happy amongst her doohickeys, where she could concentrate on calculations and calibrations, and not have to think about the woman she had brought back with her from the other reality. She switched on her computer, and turned her attention to the MALP upgrades she was working on. She'd been at her screen for about half an hour, when the computer beeped. She grinned, she knew what that meant; Cassie was trying to get in touch. She clicked, and Cassie's smiling face appeared on her screen.

"Sam!" the young woman hollered. "Thought I'd stop by for a chat! How's life at the SGC? You look well."

"I am well, thanks, Cass," Sam replied. "And it's all fine here, apart from missing you. You're looking good too." And it was true, Cassie was brimming with health and well-being.

"I'm missing you too, Sam," Cassie agreed. "But I'm having a fantastic time here. I've really got to know some of the children and their families, and they've made me so welcome. I was worried, that it would be a bit, you know, patronizing, coming out here. But it's not like that at all. The people are so friendly, and they're so keen for their children to get an education. And some of them are so funny, such a good sense of humour. I don't know why I wasn't expecting that. I'm just loving it Sam."

"Oh Cassie, that's such good news," Sam beamed. She had known her daughter would be a big hit, but it was so good to hear that she had settled so well. "I'm sure they appreciate all you're doing, and I'm so happy you're getting to know the local community. And I won't ask if you're looking after yourself, you look great. Tell me, have you learned to cook at last? I'm afraid I wasn't much help in that department."

Cassie grinned. "What d'you mean? Who else could have taught me how to pierce the film on a pre-packed meal before putting it in the microwave for three-and-a-half minutes? And Uncle Jack's taught me all I could even need to know about cremating meat on a barbecue! Actually," she smiled shyly, "Rebecca's a whizz in the kitchen. She's looking after me, and she's promised to teach me one end of a saucepan from the other."

"Maybe you can give me some tips when you get back then?" Sam joked.

"Be honest Sam, you don't really want to know. As you always said, there are so many other more interesting things for you to do! Maybe," she hesitated, "Janet can help you out there. I mean, if she's like Mom, she'll be able to show you a few tricks."

Sam's face fell. Cassie had noticed, during their last few conversations, that Sam didn't really want to talk about Janet.

"What is it Sam?" she asked. "Are you not getting on with her?"

"Oh God no," Sam reassured her. "No, she's lovely, and she's trying so hard. I just feel I'm letting her down. I can't stop thinking about your Mom when I see her, and that makes me sad. But we're good friends. She said to send her love the next time I spoke to you, in fact. She's always keen to hear how you're doing. And she was incredibly touched by your letter."

"I know, she wrote me back," said Cassie. "It was such a sweet letter. She's a wonderful person, isn't she Sam?" Sam nodded sadly. "Which probably makes it harder for you?"

Sam was astonished. Just when had her daughter become so sensitive to everybody's feelings. "Yeah, it does," Sam admitted. "I'm just not sure of the best way to handle everything."

"Oh Sam," Cassie smiled. "You don't have do do everything the 'best' way. Just take it slow, see what happens. You do know I won't mind if you get together? I so much want you to be happy, Sam, you've been miserable since Mom died."

"I'm not miserable," Sam tried to defend herself, "I've got a great life, an incredibly exciting job, a beautiful daughter, and..."

"...and you're still lonely, Sam," Cassie chided her. "Maybe it's time for you to think of yourself for once. We're not made to be on our own, you know. Talking of which," she blushed. "I don't know if you guessed, but Rebecca and I, we're ... well, we're together now. I hope you don't mind?"

"Mind!" Sam exclaimed. "Of course I don't mind, Cass, I'm thrilled. Just so long as she deserves you."

"Oh she does Sam, I'm not sure I deserve somebody as wonderful as her. She's smart, and kind, and caring, and beautiful. And she makes a mean risotto. I just love her Sam, she's perfect," Cassie gushed.

"Well you tell her from me that she'd better be good to you, or I'll have to come out there and sort her out!" Sam laughed. "Seriously, Cassie, that's the best news I've had in a long while. I'd like to meet her some time, if that's okay? Computer-to-computer, at least!"

"I'll make sure she's around next time I call," Cassie agreed. "I just hope you like her."

"If she's anything like you say, Cassie, I'm sure I'll love her," Sam replied. "Oh, hang on, 'phone's ringing. Carter," she barked into the phone. "Oh hi Janet," she said into the mouthpiece. "I'm just chatting to Cassie."

"Sam!" Cassie shouted. "I'd really like to talk to Janet. Ask her if she'll come to the lab."

So Sam asked Janet, who was immediately panic-stricken.

"Tell her she doesn't have to," called Cassie, intuitively.

"No," said Janet to Sam, who relayed the message. "I'd love to. I'll be there in three." And Janet hung up, her hands shaking. She was going to talk to Cassie, to see her. She hadn't seen her Cassie since she was 16, when she had died in Sam's arms. But if she was going to fit into the reality, and maybe even one day be a part of this Sam's life, she had to do it. And she wanted to do it.

**SG SG SG SG SG SG SG SG SG SG**

When Janet reached Sam's lab, Sam was outside, waiting for her. "You don't have to do this, Janet," Sam said, seeing her friend's pale face.

"I want to Sam," Janet replied, shakily. "I'm touched she wants to, too."

Sam gave her a quick hug. "I'll wait out here," she told her. "Call if you need me."

**SG SG SG SG SG SG SG SG SG SG**

Ten minutes later, a shaking Janet emerged from the lab. "Oh God," she burst out when Sam stepped toward her. And without knowing what she was doing, she fell into Sam's arms, sobbing helplessly. Sam led her back into the lab, and helped her carefully into a seat, not relinquishing her hold. "It's okay, Janet," she said quietly. "The first time was always going to be difficult."

"She's amazing, Sam," Janet got out, eventually. "She's a real credit to you. And she's so beautiful."

"She is, isn't she?" Sam agreed. "And she's just as beautiful on the inside."

"I can tell that," Janet nodded. "She's worried about you though, thinks you're unhappy. She thinks," Janet swallowed, "she thinks maybe we should get together. She said being with Rebecca has made her so happy, she wants you - and me - to have that too."

Sam looked at Janet, conflicting emotions tumbling through her mind. "What do you think?" she said in a voice so small as to be almost inaudible.

"I've always loved you Sam," Janet said. "But my Sam was straight. So..." she tailed off.

"Maybe Cassie's right then," Sam decided. She reached out, gently running her fingers down Janet's tear-stained cheek. "Is this okay?" she asked. Janet nodded.

Sam leant forward and, very gently, brushed her lips against Janet's She felt like she had come home at last. She pulled Janet into her arms, feeling her small, soft form quaking. She kissed her again, and put her hand in Janet's. "Let's go, shall we?" Janet nodded. Neither of them knew what the future held. They would just have to take things slowly.


	6. Facing Their Demons

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Sam asked Janet, as they reached her car. She was very aware of not wanting to put any pressure on her. While she and 'her' Janet had lived - and slept - together for nigh on seven years, she knew that this Janet had never slept with 'her' Sam, so in some ways this was a bigger deal for her.

"Quite sure, Sam," Janet said, "This is something I've only been able to dream about for years. I never thought it would actually happen. One thing, though," she said, "would you mind if we went to my place? It's just that your place is so full of 'her'. I think being there might make things harder. For us both." She looked up pleadingly at Sam.

"Of course," Sam said, "you're right." She was more relieved than she expected. She still thought of her place - and her bed - as 'theirs', so she wasn't sure how she'd feel about bringing another woman to their bed. Even if that woman was Janet Fraiser.

In the living room in Janet's apartment, Sam drew the smaller woman into a gentle embrace, kissing her tenderly, and allowing her hands to snake up inside her shirt. Her breath caught in her throat; in some ways this seemed so different, and in others so familiar. Janet took Sam by the hand, and led her to the bedroom.

**SG SG SG SG SG SG SG SG**

Sam climaxed just seconds after Janet, and fell back on the bed, breathing heavily. She reached over, and drew Janet to her, holding her in a fierce embrace, as if she were frightened that she would disappear.

"You okay Sam?" Janet asked, wondering how Sam must be feeling. Was she the same as the 'other' Janet? Had she stirred up painful memories?

"I'm great," Sam's voice was muffled. "You're so beautiful Janet, d'you know that? I love being with you. You were amazing. Every moment."

"So it didn't seem... you know, like before?" Janet struggled for the right words. "I don't want to remind you of what you've lost."

"Oh Janet," Sam leant up on her elbow, and stroked Janet's face. "Yes, there are some things that are the same. I mean, you look like her, you sound like her. You even taste like her. But you're not her, you're you, and I love you for being you. And that," she blushed, "was incredible. And very different. So fresh, and new. Not like we've been together for years, more... discovery. And more discoveries to make."

Janet nodded. She knew that she was so much less experienced than the other Janet, in terms of lovemaking. The other Janet and Sam had had nearly seven years of learning how to please each other, of knowing just what the other wanted. Whereas she had had a sadly checkered love life. She had not told Sam of just how things had been for her, but now she wanted her to know everything about her. So, tentatively, shakily, Janet started to tell her everything.

She told Sam of her first great love affair, in medical school, with the captivating Emily. Before that time, Janet had had brief flirtations, always with men, and had not realized until she met lab technician Emily why she had never taken things further. But she had spotted Emily across a crowded canteen one lunch break, and her life was turned upside down.

Janet told Sam of how the older, more experienced, more worldly, Emily had taken her to her bed, and given her the surprise of her life. She had never thought of herself as gay before then, but Emily had shown her a side of life that was new, and thrilling. Janet had fallen deeply in love with her, and had spent every spare moment with her. Even now, the memories were clear, and painful. For Emily had left Janet, after nearly three years, with barely an explanation. Janet's voice hitched as she told Sam of the deep depression that had followed, and of her determination that she would never make herself so vulnerable again.

So that, Janet explained to Sam, was that, for some years. However, two years after graduation, she had met the charming - and as it transpired later, brutal - Roger, and married him in a whirlwind of excitement. She told of how they had been happy for the first few months, and that even in bed, she had managed to show enough enthusiasm to satisfy them both. She had fleeting moments of regret, and sometimes missed Emily with a pang that was physically painful. But she was determined to make a success of her marriage. Less than a year after the wedding, though, Roger's boyish charm gave way to a jealous streak, that he was, it seemed, less and less able to control. Janet had wondered if he even wanted to control it. He certainly wanted to control her. The violence was minor, at first; a slapped face here, a bruised wrist there. But, as it always does, it got worse, and as it did, so Janet's confidence and self-worth nosedived, and she was less and less able to stand up for herself.

"You don't have to tell me this, hon," Sam whispered, seeing her lover becoming more distressed.

"I want to, Sam," Janet said. "I want you to know everything about me. I don't want there to be any secrets between us."

Sam nodded, and kissed Janet gently. "Okay then, whatever you need."

So Janet continued her story. She told Sam that before long, Roger was beating her almost every day, and often forced himself on her at night. Sam tightened her hold on Janet, as Janet told her that the breaking point came when, after a particularly brutal beating, she miscarried the baby she hadn't known she was carrying. She explained how, once she was released from the hospital, she didn't go home, instead staying in her quarters on base. She somehow managed to find the strength to prosecute Roger.

"I hope that bastard's rotting in jail," Sam spat, incandescent with rage at the thought of what that man had done to this wonderful woman.

"Nuh uh," Janet said, "he was killed in a road accident three days after the police first visited him." Her cheeks were wet with tears.

"So you never got to see him pay?" Sam instinctively realized how difficult this had been for Janet.

"No, and I still wonder if the accident was deliberate. I wonder if I'm indirectly responsible for his death."

"He, and only he, is responsible, honey," Sam was appalled that Janet was still haunted by that brute. "And if you hadn't got out, he'd have been responsible for _your_ death sooner or later."

"A few months later, I moved to Colorado Springs, to join the SGC," Janet went on. "I just had to get away, and a new start seemed like the best thing. And it was," she said, "I think those years were the happiest of my life. Until I lost Cassie."

Janet explained that she had so enjoyed her work at the SGC, being part of a team, working on such an exciting program. And, at the end of her first week, she had met her Sam Carter, and instantly fallen hopelessly - and unrequitedly - in love with her. To start with, she had found that very difficult, but after her Sam had brought Cassie into her life, she learned to accept that Sam, as a straight woman, would never be her lover. The two women had become close friends, and shared a strong platonic love as well as a daughter. And Janet had loved being a mom. Her heart had melted the first time she had seen the small, frightened girl, clinging to Sam as if for dear life.

"But then she died," Janet whispered, referring to that terrible night when she had watched, helplessly, as Cassie had convulsed for one final time in Sam's arms, and then gone limp. "After that, I couldn't stay at the SGC. I could hardly speak to Sam. She tried so hard to keep the friendship going, but I just couldn't. I kept seeing Cassie. I let her down. I let them both down. I ran away."

And Janet was overcome with sobs, as Sam held her tight, saying nothing. What could she say? She couldn't tell Janet it was alright, it wasn't. She had watched her daughter die, and had been unable to help, her medical knowledge useless in the face of Nirrti's virus.

When the sobbing subsided, Janet told Sam of how she had gotten a job at the local emergency room, anything to keep her mind and body active, and to stop her from thinking. But after about a year, one night she was overtaken by a black cloud of loneliness, and before she really knew what she was doing, she found herself in a gay bar, drinking tequila slammers like there was no tomorrow. She had gone home with the first woman to show any interest, and the two of them had come together in a frantic, lonely coupling. The sex was rough, and desperate, and Janet had awoken a few hours later, in a strange bed, next to a woman whose name she didn't even know, filled with a strong sense of self-loathing.

Janet was scared that telling all this to Sam would put her off, but she couldn't keep anything back. She told of how things had improved a bit over the next few months; she moved from the emergency room at the hospital to the surgical ward, and she developed a friendship with the crippled Cam Mitchell, and had been happy to help him. Slowly, she started to rebuild her self-esteem. Her expectations of life were now so terribly different from when she was a naive medical student, in love with the beautiful Emily, with an exciting future ahead of her. She now knew that happiness was too much to ask, but she hoped for a quiet, undramatic life.

The black cloud descended again a few months later, and again she went to a gay bar, got slammed, and had meaningless, miserable, sex with the first woman she could. And this pattern continued for about three years: mundane existence; animal sex; self-loathing; mundane existence; animal sex; self-loathing. She had begun to accept that this was her life now. And then she had met Sam again in Cam Mitchell's grim apartment. But of course, as she soon realized, this was not the Sam she knew.

"And here we are," Janet finished. "I'm sorry, Sam, I know this is a lot to burden you with. And if it's too much to handle, I understand. I don't want you to feel obliged to stay with me. I know I'm not what you thought."

"You're exactly what I thought," Sam said, softly. "You're you. And it doesn't get much better than that. I love you, Janet. You. Not as a replacement, or a facsimile, or anything like that. I love you for who you are. And I always will." She gathered her shaking lover into her strong arms, and held her until the shaking subsided. After that, they made love again, this time in a more leisurely, gentle, unhurried fashion.

"Thank you Sam," Janet whispered. "I never thought life could be this good again."

Sam held her close.

The two women spent most of that weekend in Janet's big bed, and when they returned to the SGC on the Monday morning, they were both less haunted, more relaxed. They both knew that they had a long way to go, and both had many demons to overcome. But they also knew that they would be alright. And that they would be together forever. The rest would come.


	7. A Future Together

Over the next couple of months, Sam and Janet spent almost every spare moment together. They saw each other as often as they could manage, despite both their busy schedules, and spent most nights together at Janet's apartment, when Sam was on Earth that is. They both still felt uneasy at the thought of spending the night at Sam's house, the ghost of 'her' Janet was still there. They did spend more and more time there during the day, especially on weekends, as the house was close to the woods where both of them loved to hike when they could. But, when the evening came, they still found themselves making their way over to Janet's place. Sam knew that she would have to address this issue, sooner or later. There was no hurry though, was there?

Sam's trips offworld had been only day missions recently, which allowed for more time with her lover, for which she was grateful. It hadn't been planned that way, that was just how it had worked out. So she hadn't been surprised when Landry told SG-1 that the next mission would be an overnighter. She didn't really mind, she still loved her job and all that it entailed. And, she thought wryly, she could probably manage one night away from Janet.

As it turned out, however, the 'one-nighter' turned into a miserable and exhausting 72 hours, during which she got, at most, five hours' sleep in total.

The mission was not dangerous in any way, it was purely a diplomatic visit, to firm up the arrangements for a naquadah-mining exchange. The planet agreed to providing regular deliveries of naquadah to Earth, while the SGC had agreed to sharing some of its technology. Which was all fine and dandy, and would have remained that way, had the weather not closed in on SG-1 almost as soon as they arrived. That was not a problem in itself - hell, they were used to rain and storms - but when a flash of lightening took out the DHD, then the difficulties started. The tribal elders refused to let SG-1 dial out manually, as they - understandably - wanted their DHD in working order. So Sam took a look at the damaged DHD, and discovered that one of the crystals in it had shattered. She told the elders that she would have to re-wire the device to bypass that particular crystal, a task that was not particularly difficult, but very time-consuming and intricate.

The guys did what they could to help Sam, by setting up a bivouac arrangement round the DHD, so that she was protected from the worst of the rain. They also took it in turns to be her 'lab assistants', for which Sam was grateful in theory, but in practise the babbling from Daniel, Vala and Mitchell was not much more than an irritation. Teal'c was, unsurprisingly, relatively silent, and she found herself looking forward to his 'shifts'. She slept little, as the elders were becoming antsy and she figured that the sooner they got back to Earth the better. "I can sleep when I get back," she told herself, more than once.

Just as exhaustion - and the cold - threatened to overwhelm her, the final wire fitted into place.

"Try it now," she told Teal'c, tiredly. And it worked.

**SG SG SG SG SG SG SG SG**

It was midnight on the Friday when the four of them stumbled back through the wormhole.

"Are you okay?" asked Landry, who was waiting for them on the ramp.

"We're fine, sir," Sam replied. "Just tired and wet."

"Good," he replied. "Get changed, we'll keep the debriefing short. Then once you've all been cleared medically, you're on a week's downtime. And Colonel Carter," he added, as she headed for the showers, "that means you. I don't want to see you in your lab, or anywhere on base, until Monday after next. Is that clear?"

"Yes sir," Sam grinned. They all knew of her workaholic tendencies, it was something of a running joke at the SGC. "No lab. No mountain. No doohickies. I'm sure I'll think of something else to do."

**SG SG SG SG SG SG SG SG**

After her shower, Sam made her way swiftly to the infirmary, and was disappointed not to see Janet there.

"She's taking a week's vacation," Sharon, the head nurse, told her. "Landry told her she was looking tired."

Sam smiled again; Hank Landry's intentions were clear, and for that she was grateful. Everybody at the SGC knew about her and Janet, and they also knew how much happier she had been since she had brought this Janet back from the alternate reality.

By the time Sam had been cleared, along with the others, and made her weary way home, it was 0200hrs, and she could barely put one foot in front of the other for tiredness.

She stripped off and flung herself into bed, ready for sleep to claim her.

But she couldn't settle. Despite her total exhaustion, she just couldn't get comfortable. Janet was missing, she realized. She tried hugging a pillow, counting sheep; she even resorted to looking at pictures of Janet that she had taken with her cellphone. But still she couldn't fall off to sleep.

By 0500hrs, she gave up. She took a long shower, got dressed, and headed for Janet's apartment. She knew Janet was an early riser, so she resolved to wait in the corridor of her apartment until she saw a telltale light from under the door.

She'd been there about 20 minutes, sitting on the floor leaning against the wall opposite Janet's apartment, when she saw a sliver of light appear under the door.

"Thank God," she thought, as she really didn't want any of Janet's neighbors to find her half-asleep in their apartment complex; that would be a bit too weird.

So she got to her feet, and knocked softly on the door.

**SG SG SG SG SG SG SG SG**

"Who the hell can that be?" Janet thought, grumpily, when she heard the tapping on the door. "It's 0610hrs, I'm on vacation." But she made her way reluctantly to the door, opening it with a scowl, ready to bawl out whoever was there.

When she saw Sam, her scowl changed to a wide smile.

"Sam!" she exclaimed. "God I've missed you." And she pulled her lover into a firm embrace, and reached up for a kiss.

"Wow!" said Sam. "Now that's the sort of welcome I like."

Janet grinned. "Well, it's been lonely here without you since Tuesday. What are you doing here at this hour anyway? Are you okay?" and she peered anxiously at Sam, noting the pinched features and black rings under her eyes.

"I'm fine Janet," Sam reassured her. "Just couldn't sleep, and I wanted to see you. What are you doing up at this time on your vacation? Not that I'm not delighted you are, thought I'd have to sit outside for hours."

"What d'you mean, sit outside?" asked Janet, sharply.

"Waiting for the light to go on," Sam replied sheepishly. "Didn't want to wake you."

Janet smiled, and looked a little sheepish herself. "I'm only up 'cos I wanted to make a phone call," she admitted. "Just spoke to Sharon, wanted to check you all got back okay. Tough mission, huh?" she could see just how drained her lover was.

"Long; boring; tiring," Sam admitted, and allowed Janet to lead her to the couch. "And I realized that I don't want to spend any more time away from you than I have to. I wanna go shopping today, Janet."

Janet was surprised; Sam was not exactly the sort for whom shopping was a relaxation. When she wanted to relax, she either went to her lab, or made her way to the garage to tinker with her Indian motorcyle. Or made her way to Janet's bed to tinker with Janet. But shopping? No, that was not her thing.

"Colonel Carter," Janet admonished, mock-strictly. "There will be no shopping today. No anything, not until you've caught up on your sleep." She smiled at Sam, but was shocked to see tears gathering in those beautiful blue eyes. "Oh honey, I was only kidding. What's wrong? Has something happened? What do you need to get? Talk to me Sam."

Sam took Janet's hand in hers. "Sorry," she sniffed. "I'm just overtired. I will sleep, I promise. But first I want you to come with me to the bed store. I wanna get a new bed - for us - for my house. I'm going to redecorate the bedroom, and make it 'ours'. I don't ever want to spend a night apart from you, not when I'm on Earth, not unless I absolutely have to. And it's time. I have to move on. I love you Jan."

"And I love you, Sam," Janet replied, kissing her tenderly. "Sit there, I'll be right back." She disappeared into her small study, reappearing five minutes later with a smile. "I've just checked that bed store on 9th, that huge one. The website says they're open until 2200hrs tonight, and they've got a sale. Come to bed now for a few hours, and we'll go later this afternoon. I swear."

Sam gave her a tired grin. "Always trying to get me to bed," she joked. "You're incorrigible."

They made their way to the bedroom, Sam staying awake only long enough to strip and put on a nightshirt, and fall into bed. She pulled Janet to her, and nuzzled between her breasts. In a moment, she was fast asleep, though her grip on Janet remained firm.

Janet looked down at her lover, and was pleased to see her frown relax as sleep claimed her. Life was good, she mused. Six months ago, when she was still in the other reality, she couldn't have imagined being this happy. She knew that she and Sam still faced many hurdles in their relationship, but equally she was confident that they would overcome them all. She loved her brave, strong, tender colonel more than she could say. Relaxing into Sam's grip, she fell off to sleep too, happy in the knowledge that Sam had come back to her, safe and unharmed. She could only pray that this would always be the case.

**SG SG SG SG SG SG SG SG**

Four hours later, Janet awoke, with a full bladder. Gently, she eased her way from under Sam and padded to the bathroom. She peed, showered and returned to the bedroom to dress.

Sam had become restless; even in her sleep, she somehow knew that Janet was no longer in the bed with her. She started to toss and turn in her sleep, unconsciously searching out her lover. Janet knew that she needed to sleep for much longer to recover from the mission. So she took a book from the shelf, kicked off her shoes and, fully dressed, slid back into the bed. She gently pulled Sam onto her lap and soothed her back to sleep, running her hand through Sam's blonde locks. She stayed with her for the rest of the afternoon, even foregoing lunch. She could eat later, but Sam needed to sleep now, and if she could help, she would.

So it was 1700hrs by the time Sam awoke, greatly refreshed. "Hey," she said softly, nudging a reading Janet. "Whatcha doing?"

"Waiting for you," Janet replied.

"Well I'm here," Sam smiled. "What're you gonna do about it?"

"This," Janet said, and leant down to kiss her drowsy lover.

"Need to pee," Sam told her, with a laugh. "Told you I was a romantic."

Janet swatted her as she hopped off the bed and headed to the bathroom.

When Sam returned, she eyed Janet. "Too many clothes," she told her.

"Well, it's a cold day outside, hon," Janet told her. "And the bed store's a bit of a distance from the car park. If we're going..." she was silenced with a deep kiss from Sam.

"I don't mean for later," Sam told her. "I mean for now," and her deft fingers swiftly unbuttoned Janet's shirt. Before Janet knew what was happening, Sam had removed her shirt, and was cupping a soft breast. "Missed you so much," Sam told her, her thumb rubbing the nipple. "Make love to me, please Janet."

So Janet complied. Twice.

**SG SG SG SG SG SG SG SG**

It was 2100hrs by the time they made it to the bed store, having satisfied their appetites both for each other and for food. There was a wide range of beds available, but they both gravitated towards a huge, Shaker-style bed. It was plain, but elegant; just like Sam, Janet mused. Beautiful, but without fuss.

"This one!" Sam said, triumphantly. Janet nodded her agreement. Because the beds were on sale, the storeman promised them delivery on the following Friday, just under a week.

"Well, that was easy," Janet said, once their transaction was completed. "I think I'm gonna like shopping with you. Quick, easy decisions, that's the best way."

"I'm glad to hear it," replied Sam, "because you're coming with me to the hardware store tomorrow. We're gonna pick out a new color scheme for the bedroom. Correction, _you're_ gonna pick it out. I want it to be your decision," she turned serious, taking Janet's warm face between her hands, "I want it to be your choice, making your own mark on the house."

Janet nodded, touched by Sam's thoughtfulness. "Okay," she said, simply.

**SG SG SG SG SG SG SG SG**

So the two women went to store on the next day, where Janet - with Sam's beaming approval - chose an understated cream scheme, and they then spent most of the next week redecorating Sam's - their - bedroom.

When the room was nearly finished, Janet realized Sam was missing. So she went downstairs, and found her lover, wandering the house, taking down pictures and putting them in a box.

"Whatcha doing, sweetie?" she asked in a quiet voice; she could tell what Sam was doing.

"Starting afresh," Sam replied, a hitch in her voice. "You don't need all these pictures of her, staring down at you when you stay over. I want you to feel comfortable."

"Oh Sam," Janet was moved. "You mustn't do that. I don't want you to forget her. She's part of your history. She's part of why you're who you are. I know how important she was - she _is_ - to you. I don't want you to 'put her away'." And she reached over and took the box from Sam. "Let's choose one to put in each room," she said. "And then we can take our own pictures to fill some of the other spaces. What d'you think of that?"

Sam nodded, not trusting herself to speak. "You choose," she whispered. "I can't." And she thrust the box at Janet. "Not the bedroom, though," she pleaded. "I'm not ready for that yet." She left the room abruptly, and Janet heard her letting herself into the back garden. She wanted so much to follow her, but she knew Sam needed to be alone with her thoughts for a while.

Janet looked in the box, and was once again impressed with the skill of the photographer, mostly Sam, though a few were taken by Cassie. She selected a lovely 'family' shot of Sam, Janet and Cassie taken in the back garden which, Sam had previously told her, was taken only three weeks before Janet had died. Sam had recounted how the automatic timer on the camera had been playing up, so all three of them kept collapsing in fits of giggles. And this showed on the final shot, a picture that was so infused with love, and laughter, and belonging. Janet began to understand the devastation Sam had felt at Janet's death.

She chose a second black and white head shot of Janet, that she knew had been lovingly taken by Sam, and hung it in the garage, so that Sam could see it whenever she worked on her beloved bike. Another family shot, of the three of them, and Cassie's dog, camping took pride of place in the kitchen. And then Janet saw a picture she had never noticed before. It must have hung in Sam's bedroom. It was a candid shot of Sam and Janet together at the lake, and could only have been taken by Cassie. They were laughing at something, but at the same time, looking into each others eyes with such love and tenderness that it brought a lump to Janet's throat just to look at it. So this one she hung in Sam's study. She knew the blonde scientist spent many hours in there, usually on her own.

After a suitable period, Janet went out into the garden, where Sam was sitting quietly. "I think we've had enough for the day, huh, hon?" she asked her lover. "Shall we head back to my place? Bed'll be here tomorrow, we want to be rested for that." Sam nodded her agreement.

**SG SG SG SG SG SG SG SG**

The next day, the two women were back at the house by 0900hrs, putting the finishing touches to the room. Sam was much more upbeat and even frivolous, seemingly excited about the future. "No more nights apart, Jan," she told her, waving a paintbrush dangerously near to Janet's nose.

The bed duly arrived, and Janet supervised the removal of the old one later that night, during which Sam suddenly found a pressing matter to attend to in the garage. Janet knew why, and again backed off, leaving Sam time to herself. After an hour, though, she began to worry. So she quietly let herself into the garage, where she saw Sam, curled up in the armchair she had placed there some years ago. Janet knew that her counterpart had spent many hours sitting there, watching Sam as she tweaked and fiddled. Sam was sobbing like a child, clutching the head shot of Janet, her face buried in Janet's favorite cushion.

"Hey," Janet whispered, crouching down before her distraught lover. Sam looked up, her tearstained eyes barely focusing.

"Thank you," Sam croaked, motioning to the photo. "Thank you for making me keep this one. Janet, I'm so sorry. I thought I was over it," tears overwhelmed her again. "I do love you so much. I want to be with you. Truly I do." She was barely coherent.

"Shh. I know you do, hon," Janet said softly. "But that doesn't mean you should forget her. She'll always be a very important part of your life. And I want her to be. She loved you so much too Sam. And I'm sure she still does, wherever she is now. It's okay to miss her."

Sam was pale and shaking, and Janet worried that she might go into shock in the cold garage. "Let's get you to bed, hon, warm and safe." And she led her back into the house and up the stairs to the bedroom, where she had already made the bed with the new linen set they had chosen together.

"Headache," Sam whispered. "Hurts."

"I'm not surprised, sweetie. It's been a hard day for you. You get into bed, I'll get you something for that." She helped her change and lie down, smoothing the hair from her brow. She handed her two tablets and a glass of water, which Sam took unprotestingly. Janet knew from that that she must be feeling awful, Sam avoided all drugs whenever possible. "I'll be just down the corridor if you need me," she told Sam gently.

"No," Sam protested. "Don't leave me. Stay. I need you."

So Janet found one of Sam's old shirts in the wardrobe and slipped into it, and then slid into the bed next to her. She didn't know whether she was doing the right thing. Common sense told her that it was unwise for her to be in 'their' room tonight, in view of Sam's earlier reaction. But it was what Sam wanted. So she stayed.

Sam's sleep was disturbed and restless, and more than once Janet had to whisper softly to her and lull her back to sleep. A sudden nightmare pulled Sam from her sleep at about 0215hrs; she bolted upright, shaking and sobbing, and a scream tore from her throat. Janet knew from experience that she was reliving the other Janet's death. She put a gentle hand on Sam's back, talking quietly to her. She didn't tell her it was all okay. It wasn't. Sam had seen the love of her life die a violent and painful death. Sam at last realized where she was, and clung weeping to Janet. "I'm sorry," she said, again and again. "It was just so real."

Eventually Janet calmed her, and they both lay down to sleep. She felt Sam reach over to her, and unbutton the shirt she was wearing. "No Sam," she said gently. "That's not going to help now. You need sleep, not sex."

"Not for sex," Sam's voice was muffled. "I just need to feel you. To hold you." And she reached over and cupped Janet's breast, taking the nipple softly in her mouth. Janet could feel her ragged breathing ease as she accepted the comfort she found. So she held her to her, like a child, keeping a tight grip on her, feeling her relax in her arms. Finally, Sam fell to sleep and, suckling like a baby, slept soundly until the morning.

**SG SG SG SG SG SG SG SG**

"Hey sleepyhead," Janet smiled, as Sam awoke. "How are you feeling?"

"Great," Sam smiled back, "much better."

"Headache gone?" Janet asked, peering at her to try and detect any signs of pain.

"Completely," Sam told her. "Seriously, I feel great. Better than I have for ages. Wanna share a shower?" her eyes twinkled.

"We don't have to hurry anything, Sam," said Janet gently. "One day at a time, remember?"

"I want to do this Janet," Sam said. "Really. I need you in my life. And my bed. And, right now, I need you in the shower!" And she took her by the hand, and pulled her toward the bathroom, where they soaped each other down, kissing and caressing. Then they made their way back to the bed, where they made love for hours.

Finally, they showered again, and made their way downstairs.

"I might have guessed," Janet laughed. "No food in the house. Again. Samantha Carter, for a genius you sure are a lousy housekeeper!"

"But I can rewire a naquadah generator in under three hours, how many housekeeping experts can say that?" Sam laughed. "C'mon, let me buy you breakfast."

As they made their way through a stack of pancakes, Sam leaned over and took Janet's hand. "Your lease is up in two months, isn't it?"

"Yeah," Janet said, through a mouthful of pancake. "But it's no problem, hon, they're fine if I want to sign for another six months."

"Don't do it," Sam said firmly.

"Uh?" Janet looked at her quizzically.

"Move in with me," Sam said. "I need you Janet. I don't ever want us to be apart."

Janet smiled. "Why not?"


	8. The Next Generation

By the time Janet's lease was up, she was already living virtually full-time at Sam's place, so the official move was little more than a formality.

Janet had thought when Sam first asked her to move in that she might be nervous as the time approached, but she surprised herself by feeling nothing more than excitement, and a feeling of coming home. Being with Sam full-time just seemed natural and right, and both women were thrilled that they didn't have to spend another night apart, when Sam was not off on a mission that was.

Their first 'official' night together, Sam took Janet out for a romantic dinner. "You okay, hon?" she asked Janet as they were sipping their coffees. She was concerned that Janet had gone quiet.

"I'm more than okay, Sam," she said, a smile in her voice. "I was just comparing how things are now to how they were a year ago. My life sucked, Sam," she admitted. "There seemed to be so little to look forward to. But now," she smiled, "it's hard to imagine how things could be better. Apart from Cassie," a cloud passed over her face. "I'm not sure things will ever be the same after I saw my Cassie die. But I'm looking forward to meeting the Cassie from this reality. And I couldn't be happier with you. I don't think you realize just how perfect you are."

Sam blushed. "Yeah," she snorted. "I'll make breakfast tomorrow, you'll see me in a very different light then."

Janet laughed. "Sam, I love you more than life. But if you ever go into that kitchen again for anything other than a soda or a coffee, I swear I'll kill you with my bare hands."

**SG SG SG SG SG SG SG SG SG SG**

Eight months earlier

Right from a very early age, Cassie had known that she was attracted to girls rather than boys. This didn't worry her in the slightest. On Hanka, there was no such expression as 'gay' or 'straight'. People just fell in love with whomever they fell in love with, and nobody made a fuss about it. There was no stigma attached to a same-sex relationship. So she had been surprised and confused when she discovered that attitudes on Earth were rather different.

Her first indication that things were different was when Sam and Janet told her they had got together, but had told her that there would be some people who didn't approve. They were lucky, they told her, as their close friends knew about them and were enlightened enough just to be delighted for them. But some people, Sam warned her, might snigger and point, and some others might even consider it a sin.

"Is it a sin?" Cassie had asked Sam, confused.

"No honey, far from it. It's about two people loving each other, in every way they can. It's just some people are frightened by anybody who's different from them, and that makes them act aggressively. If you come across any prejudice, you come tell me, okay? But remember, these people are to be pitied, they're scared and that's why they act the way they do, and say the things they do. We should really just pity them."

So Cassie had never been ashamed of who she was. She was still very shy, though. Despite the shining example set by the two women she now saw as her parents, she preferred to keep her few crushes and mild flirtations to herself. And she had surprisingly few flirtations; she made a friend in the Girl Scouts, and on one summer camp when they were both 14, they had kissed and touched each other's small breasts, but the flirtation had come to nothing. And at teaching college, she had become close to one other student teacher, and they had had several dates and had made out on a few occasions. Cassie had hoped that perhaps the relationship was going somewhere, but when her 'girlfriend' had suddenly had to move away to care for her elderly parents after they were in a car accident she found that she wasn't as devastated as she had expected to be. She realized that she hadn't yet found 'the one'.

And then she had been devastated by the sudden and horrific death of her mom. She had tried to support Sam, who was trying to support her at the same time. It was a dreadful time, Sam tried so hard to be strong for her, but she could see in her eyes that she was dead inside. Sam had just been utterly and completely devastated and, Cassie could tell, could see no end to her misery. She shut herself down almost completely for about six months, only really making an effort when she was with Cassie. The rest of the time she hardly smiled, made no effort to be sociable and just wanted to be alone with her misery.

So without realizing it, Cassie had become scared of forming a close relationship. If its end could do that to somebody so strong and together as Sam, what chance was there for her? She stopped responding to any brief attempts at flirtation, regardless of how beautiful or captivating the woman concerned was, and just concentrated on being there for Sam during the times she was home from college.

But after about six months, Sam seemed to pull herself together. She would never be the same again, and she had told Cassie straight that she would never love another woman. But slowly, bit by bit, she responded to the seemingly casual invitations from her team to go on the occasional social outing. She regained some of her spark, and focused herself even more on her work. It was as if she had decided that if she couldn't be with Janet, she could at least do her very best for her team and for her world.

When Cassie was invited by her (and Sam's) church to go out to Tanzania for a year to teach, she finally felt okay about leaving Sam. Sam encouraged her. "I'll miss you, kiddo, of course I will. But you can't miss out on an opportunity like this. And was can talk on the email and phone, it'll be almost like being in the next room."

So Cassie had gone, and was entranced by the harsh beauty of the country, and the kindness of the local people. She had been billeted to stay in a three-bedroom house with another American girl, a few years older than her, who was working as a doctor at the recently established clinic in the village.

When Cassie first met Rebecca Hagan, she was immediately struck by the young woman's looks. She was a tall, willowy, blonde with cheekbones like cut glass and a winning smile. Cassie soon realized that her personality was as beautiful as her appearance, and soon found herself falling in love with her. She said nothing, though, determined that she would get over this 'crush'. And she didn't even know if Rebecca was gay, though something about her told Cassie she was.

However, despite Cassie's best intentions, the two women soon became firm friends. Rebecca had a well-developed sense of humor and a dry wit that Cassie found irresistible, and they soon became almost inseparable, enjoying a close and platonic relationship.

Cassie told Rebecca what she could about her background, though she had to rewrite considerable parts of her history in order to keep quiet about the Stargate and all it entailed. "It's not quite the full story," she admitted to her about a month after they met. "There's some more... stuff. Related to the military. One day I hope I'll be able to tell you it all."

Rebecca had nodded understandingly. "When you're ready Cass, there's no hurry." When they had known each other a few weeks, she told Cassie some of her own history, including her father disowning her when she told him she was gay. "He was okay until I moved in with Claire when I was 22," she told Cassie, haltingly. "But he couldn't bear all his friends and neighbors knowing his daughter was a 'deviant'," her laugh was hollow when she remembered her father's reaction. "So he told me it was him or Claire. I chose Claire."

"Where is Claire now?" Cassie asked.

"She died," Rebecca said in a quiet voice. "Nearly four years ago. One day I'll tell you all about it. It's because of her I came here, signed up for five years. It's a long story, another day, huh?"

Cassie smiled, understandingly, and put her hand on her arm. She had had more than her fair share of tragedy in her short life, and she knew what it was like not to want to talk about it.

Their platonic friendship continued to develop apace and Cassie hoped that Rebecca would always be in her life in one shape or form. After about six weeks of sharing the same house, and most of their spare time, Cassie was surprised to see Rebecca come into the kitchen one day, where she was stacking the dishes. "It's my turn for the housework," Cassie laughed, "you can have the afternoon off."

Rebecca came up behind her as she reached into a high closet to put a milk jug away, and very gently took her in her arms. "Cassie," Rebecca spoke in a voice that was so low it was almost inaudible. "I can't help it. I think I'm falling in love with you." She tightened her grip, as it afraid that Cassie would bolt.

"Ditto," Cassie's voice was muffled by Rebecca's shirt. She looked up at Rebecca, and saw only inexpressible tenderness in her eyes. "I think I fell for you the minute I saw you."

Rebecca leaned forward and very softly kissed the shorter woman on the lips. "Is this okay?" she asked Cassie.

"Oh yeah," Cassie breathed. "It's okay. It's very okay." And she reached up for another kiss, stroking her hand down the soft skin on Rebecca's face. "So we're doing this then are we?"

"Only if you want to," Rebecca replied.

"I definitely want to," Cassie said. "It's just... I've never actually... I mean, I've always been attracted to women. But I've never... I don't want to disappoint you."

"That's okay, Cass. I've only been with two women myself. We'll work it out together. Just let me know if there's anything that's not working for you or that you're uncomfortable with." And she led her to the bedroom.

Cassie was shaking by the time they got there, with a mixture of nerves and excitement. Rebecca felt the almost imperceptible trembling. "We don't have to do this, Cass, not now. Not ever if you don't want to."

Cassie swallowed. "I do want to; more than anything."

Rebecca nodded. "Okay then, we'll take it slow. Just let me know if you need me to stop. I love you," she told her. "You know that?"

"Ditto," Cassie said again, and they both laughed.

Rebecca reached down, and very slowly undid the buttons on Cassie's shirt. She reached in, and ran her hand across the smooth skin of her flat stomach, moving up until she reached her bra-clad breast. She cupped it gently, and was gratified to find the nipple hardening at her touch. "Still okay?" she asked.

"Uh huh," Cassie's speech was becoming monosyllabic.

Slowly, Rebecca removed Cassie's shirt, and then unhooked her bra. "You're beautiful, Cass," she said, "so beautiful."

She removed her own t-shirt and bra, her pink nipples already taut despite the warm air. She then helped a by-then almost trance-like Cassie to remove her clothes, as though she were unwrapping a precious gift. Soon they were both naked, and Rebecca pulled her toward the bed.

Cassie was amazed at how Rebecca combined strength, beauty and unbelievable tenderness. She had never in her wildest dreams imagined that making love could be so wonderful, and as she collapsed into Rebecca's arms as both women climaxed almost simultaneously, she felt tears gathering in her eyes.

"Thank you," she whispered to Rebecca. "Thank you."

The next few days flew by in a flurry of activity for Cassie and Rebecca. They were both very busy at work, and almost every spare minute they had, they spent together, mostly in bed, as they got to know every inch of each other. Cassie had never been so happy, and found that being with Rebecca was the best medicine to recover from the pain of losing her mom. She knew from her occasional silences and wistfulness that Rebecca still often thought about Claire, and she looked forward to when she would tell her all about it.

Their bliss was shattered in less than a week, though, when Cassie got the call that Sam had been badly injured. "She's not gonna die, is she?" she asked Teal'c tearfully over the telephone. Teal'c reassured her that Sam was in the best hands, but admitted the injury was a serious one.

"I've gotta go see her," she told Rebecca frantically. "I've gotta get to Dar." The nearest main airport was in Dar es Salaam, a nine-hour bus ride away. Teal'c had told her that the SGC had reserved an open ticket for her, so she just needed to present herself at the airport.

"Pack a bag," Rebecca told her. "I'll fill the truck, we can be on the road in half an hour."

"But you're working tomorrow, you can't do that. I'll get the bus," Cassie said. Even in her fraught state, she didn't want Rebecca to miss her work.

"I'll swap my shifts, I'll send a message to the clinic. This is more important."

Cassie smiled her gratitude.

"Just promise me you'll come back?" Rebecca said to her at the airport. I can't find you and lose you again."

"I'll come back. Whatever happens," her voice cracked. "I can't wait to introduce you to Sam, she'll love you."

"Well you just tell her I'll be with you next time you go visit, so she's got to get better for that!"

Cassie's visit to the SGC was enormously traumatic for her. She couldn't help thinking of her mom as she saw Sam, at death's door, wired up to what looked like every machine in the infirmary. The first few days were terrible, it seemed they could lose her at any moment. Each time Sam had a crisis though, she pulled through. But her recovery was slow, almost imperceptible, and it was only when Vala finally persuaded Warner to let her use the healing device on Sam that she started to make real progress. At the end of three weeks, she was sitting up and demanding her laptop, so Cassie knew she'd be okay.

Once Sam had realized that Cassie had come all the way back from Tanzania, she had been pissed. But she soon realized that that was exactly what she would have done in her place. "I couldn't lose a third mother," Cassie told her, making Sam pink with shame for her harsh words.

"I'm so sorry Cassie, I forget how hard this is for you. I just didn't want your life disrupted It's great to see you, anyway." She took Cassie's hand in hers.

At the end of the fourth week, Cassie finally gave in to Sam's demands that she go back to Tanzania. Sam was looking great, certainly compared to the pale shadow Cassie had first seen on her arrival, and Vala was still giving her regular sessions with the healing device. Much of the scarring had been eliminated, and there was only a small residual infection to battle. Sam was even back to work part-time.

So Cassie headed back to Tanzania, and was delighted beyond measure to be met at Dar es Salaam airport by Rebecca. They had to be careful about demonstrations of affection in public, as the Tanzanians were a very old-fashioned society, but as soon as they got to the truck in the dark parking lot, she pulled Rebecca into a deep kiss.

"Don't ever leave me again," Rebecca pleaded that night. "Please? I don't think I could bear it."

It was only then that Cassie saw the dark rings under her eyes. "Never," she promised.

The next day, Rebecca felt slightly foolish at her words the night before. "I'm sorry, Cassie," she said. "It's just that after Claire, I can't really believe it can all be good again."

And slowly, haltingly, she told Cassie about Claire. Rebecca had chosen her over her father, who had then thrown her out of her house and her life. "I'm giving you $5 million, I never want to see you again."

"$5 million?" Cassie gasped.

Rebecca snorted. "That was nothing for him. You've heard of Hagan Pharmaceuticals, right"?

Cassie nodded. Everybody had heard of Hagan Pharmaceuticals, it was one of the biggest companies in the US.

"Well that's my dad. His dad, I suppose. Started it in 1929, and my dad, Walter Hagan, is worth in excess of $2 billion, and that's just personal wealth. God alone knows what his stake in the company is worth. I told him I didn't want his money, and I stormed out. But then three months later Claire got sick. Yes, I know, three months. She was only 23, and she was diagnosed with leukaemia. So I took his money then. I bought us a small apartment, and I stopped work so I could spend all the time with her, helping her. Making her better. Or that was my plan. But she didn't get better, she got worse. Within a year, she was dead, died in my arms on her 24th birthday."

Cassie's eyes filled with tears. "You don't have to go on, Bec," she said softly.

"I want to," Rebecca said. "I want you to know everything. About me, about her, about us."

And she went on to explain how, during her illness, Claire had persuaded Rebecca to follow the dream she had of setting up a clinic in Africa. She knew she would never live to do it herself, but she knew Rebecca would be perfect. She also knew Rebecca well enough that she would have to have a purpose for living after her death.

So Rebecca set up a charitable foundation with all the money that was left after Claire's medical bills, and that charity had funded the establishment of four major clinics in Tanzania. She had been working at the one in Cassie's village for almost four years now, and it had already made an enormous difference to the lives of the local people; mortality rates had fallen, fewer women died in childbirth, children were inoculated against the more common diseases and, importantly, the locals were getting an education in how they could help themselves in terms of basic healthcare.

"I never thought I'd love again," Rebecca told Cassie. "And then I met you." She smiled. "But then you went and it's silly I know but I couldn't imagine you'd ever come back to me."

"We'll never be apart again, I promise," Cassie told her. "In fact, I'm going to see the head teacher at the school tomorrow, my placement finishes four months before yours, I'm gonna ask him to extend, so we can go back to the US together."

**SG SG SG SG SG SG SG SG SG SG**

"You think Cassie's happy with Rebecca?" Janet asked Sam over breakfast about a week after they had officially moved in.

Sam nodded as she sipped her coffee. "Oh yes, I've never seen her so happy. And Rebecca seems so sweet," she and Janet had both talked to Rebecca over the webcam. "She's been so good for her. I think we should maybe go visit them, what d'you think?" Cassie had told Sam only the night before that she would be staying on a further four months, and had begged Sam to visit, and to bring Janet with her.

Janet nodded. "I want to meet her so much, in person. I think that would be great," she smiled.

So Sam and Janet started planning their trip.


	9. Getting to Know You

Cassie and Rebecca were both delighted to hear that Sam and Janet would be coming out for a three-week vacation. Excitedly, they started planning where they would take them, what they would show them, and who they would introduce them to. Cassie was determined that Sam would see what a wonderful life she had. She knew Sam would love Rebecca. In many ways they were quite similar; highly intelligent, quietly humorous, loyal and loving. And tall and beautiful, of course. Rebecca was also a whizz in the kitchen, something Sam had never been able to boast. But then Rebecca couldn't strip a four-stroke motorcyle engine, service it and reassemble it in perfect working order in under two hours. Nor had she single-handedly saved the galaxy more than once. Everybody had their own strengths, Cassie mused quietly.

She was much more nervous about meeting Janet - she didn't know how she would deal with this 'new' version of her much-loved late mother.

"One day at a time," Rebecca came up behind her and put her hand gently on her back. Only then did Cassie realize she was staring into space.

"Huh?" she asked, none too coherently.

"You can only deal with it one day at a time. Don't anticipate problems. If she's anything like she seems," Rebecca spoken many times to both Janet and Sam over the computer, "she'll be just as nervous as you, if not more so. Just take it one day at a time. And trust yourself."

Cassie smiled. Not only was Rebecca beautiful and loving and fun, it turned out she was also very wise. "We'll be okay," Cassie agreed. "And we both love Sam, so that's a pretty good place to start."

Rebecca smiled. "I'm with you all the way, Cass."

**SG SG SG SG SG SG SG SG SG SG **

Janet and Sam managed to persuade Landry to give them three weeks' vacation from the SGC. At first, the general had been reluctant, but fortuitously, O'Neill came to visit, and told them of a government plan that should minimize the risk of Sam's long absence should there be any problems.

He had been given the task of commanding the Odyssey on new stealth trials, and the plan was to test out the effectiveness of the ship's shielding technology. The Air Force had concluded that these trials could only be carried out over less-developed countries - and had chosen the continent of Africa. There was a risk that sensors may pick up on the ship if it were to be trialed over the United States. "So if we need Carter back in a hurry," Jack told Landry, "we can just beam her up and have her back at the SGC within a couple of hours."

This high-tech solution seemed ludicrous to Sam and Janet, who couldn't quite believe that the Air Force would go to such lengths, but they willingly agreed that Sam would wear a modified wristwatch that would work as a 'marker' when activated if it were necessary to beam her aboard the ship. "Beam me up, Scotty!" Sam had joked to Janet. "I may suddenly decide to disappear if anybody tries to make me cook."

"Oh don't kid yourself, hon," Janet laughed. "Believe me, if you're asked to do the cooking, I'll be begging them to beam _me_ out of there!"

Sam swatted Janet affectionately. She was relieved that Janet had seemed almost as excited as she was about the trip. She knew how hard it was on her, to contemplate a trip to visit the facsimile of the daughter she had seen die five years ago in her reality. She squeezed Janet's hand. "This vacation's going to be good, isn't it?" she asked Janet in a small voice. "I mean, you and Cassie are going to meet, we're both going to meet Rebecca. And we'll be able to see Cassie doing something she loves. I can't wait."

"Me neither," Janet agreed. Sam looked closely at her, to try and detect her real feelings. "Oh I'm nervous as all get-out, don't doubt it for a moment. But I'm excited too. This is my life now, and I've never been happier. Being with you has changed everything so much. I never realized how wonderful it is to be with the person you truly love; waking up with you next to me is the best thing that's ever happened to me. And Cassie's so important to you. It's going to be great, I just know it."

Despite Janet's brave words, though, as the time drew near for their departure, she started to worry more and more. The last time she'd held 'her' Cassie in her arms had been the day she had died, the day Janet's life had fallen apart. So she couldn't be sure how it would be meeting an older, alternate-reality version of her adopted daughter. In the weeks before they flew out to Tanzania, Janet often woke in the night with a dark feeling of panic. When that happened, Sam would reach out to Janet, and pull her to her, allaying all her fears and soothing her back to sleep.

On the day of departure, both women were tense and anxious. Sam was eager to see Cassie, of course, and also to meet Rebecca face-to-face. But she knew how much depended on the meeting going well, and the potential for the two most important people in her life to be hurt if this did not succeed.

Janet tried to hide her anxieties from Sam, knowing that she had enough to cope with herself, but Sam saw through the facade. And by the time they got to the airport, Janet was white as a sheet.

"We don't have to do this, hon," Sam told her gently. "We can go back home, you know. I don't want you to feel under any pressure."

Janet shook her head. "No, we do have to do this. If not now, some other time. After all, Cassie's coming home in two months, we can't pretend it's not happening then, can we?"

Sam took her hand. "We can cross that bridge when we come to it, sweetie. Right now, I'm worried about you. C'mon, let's go home."

"No!" Janet said, more loudly than she had intended. "We're gonna do this. I _want_ to do this. Cassie and I have talked so much about this," that much was true, barely a day went by without Cassie and Janet talking over the computer, "we know it's not going to be easy first off. But it's going to be worth it. Just stay with me Sam, please?" Janet turned her big brown eyes to Sam.

"Always," Sam said, with conviction.

**SG SG SG SG SG SG SG SG SG SG **

Cassie and Rebecca had planned to go the airport together. However, at the last minute, Rebecca was called into the hospital to deal with an emergency. She was very reluctant to go, but Cassie insisted that she did. "I'll be fine, Bec," she told her. "Nothin' to it!" She grinned. She then said, more thoughtfully, "actually, though I want you there with me, it may be easier the first time if I'm on my own with them. Not too much going on at one time, you know what I mean?"

Rebecca took her in her arms, and kissed her deeply. "I love you," she said, quietly. Just then she heard the car horn. "There's Mick with my ride. I'll see you all tonight, okay?"

**SG SG SG SG SG SG SG SG SG SG **

As Sam walked through the gates, Cassie flung herself at her parent, and nearly knocked her off her feet. "Oof," Sam said, with a wide smile, "missed you too, kiddo!"

"Where's Janet?" Cassie asked, when she had finally let go of her.

"Bathroom," Sam told her, "she's just coming." And at the moment, Janet emerged. She hadn't really needed to use the bathroom, she just thought it would be easier for Sam if she had a moment alone with Cassie first. Sam guessed that that was what she intended, so didn't wait by the door for her as she would have done.

Janet's face when she saw Cassie, in the flesh, was one of pure shock. Cassie, realizing this, stepped forward and gently took both Janet's hands in her own. "Hey," she said softly. "Welcome to Tanzania."

Janet just looked up, dumbly. "Cassandra?" she whispered. "It really is you?"

Cassie nodded. "Yeah," she said. "And I'm so pleased to see you at last."

Janet nodded. "You're all grown-up. You're a woman. Oh God, you're beautiful." She stifled a sob.

Cassie decided to take matters into her own hands. She pulled Janet into a firm embrace, and held tight as she felt the small woman begin to weep in earnest.

"Oh God, I'm so sorry," Janet said, after several minutes, pulling away and wiping her face. "I told myself I wasn't going to do this."

"Don't be sorry," Sam said, quietly, her own face wet with tears. "It's a big day. For all of us."

Cassie nodded her agreement. "It's wonderful to see you. Both. I can't tell you how happy I am. It's weird too," she admitted. "But good weird. Sam, you look great. Janet's been good for you."

"She sure has, sweetie," Sam said. "I can't tell you how much."

So Cassie led them both to her truck. It was a big, four-wheel-drive monster, necessary to cope with the irregular surfaces of the local area. All three of them were able to sit on its big bench seat at the front. Sam swallowed with pride when she saw her daughter manoeuver the hefty vehicle with ease, and noticed how tanned and confident she had become in the year since she had last seen her. She was still unmistakably Cassie, but she had a certain maturity and serenity that she had lacked when she set off for her African adventure.

"Where's Rebecca?" Sam asked, leaning across Janet to be heard - the truck was not the quietest vehicle she had traveled in.

"Emergency at the hospital. She'll be back when we get home though. Good thing too," Cassie grinned. "She's making dinner. Said she's got to, or there'll be another hospital emergency!"

"Still emulating me in the kitchen huh?" Sam laughed. "It's good to know I'm not alone!"

The three women talked non-stop on the long, hot journey back to the village. Once or twice, Sam saw that Janet looked a little dazed and unsure, but she always rallied. Half-way back, Sam insisted on taking the wheel. "You've been driving for hours, Cass," she told her daughter. She was terribly touched when they swapped seats to see Cassie take up Janet's hand, and just hold it in her own; this vacation had been a good idea, she decided.

After a long six hours on the road, they drove into the small Western complex in the village, which contained five houses and an office. As Sam maneuvered the truck to where Cassie instructed, she saw a tall woman carrying a box of vegetables up the steps into the house.

"Rebecca!" Cassie shouted, and leapt out of the vehicle. She stopped just short of embracing her lover though. She had told Sam and Janet that the Tanzanians were a very old-fashioned society, and didn't seem to understand homosexuality - they were also shocked by any form of physical affection in public, except between parent and child. She'd told them that she respected their opinions, even if she didn't necessarily agree, and that she and Rebecca carefully kept all signs of their relationship hidden from the outside world.

Sam and Janet followed Cassie into the house, where they were warmly welcomed by Rebecca, who hugged each of them closely. "Cassie's been so excited about your visit," she smiled, "and I'm so pleased to meet you both, in person at last! It's not the same over the computer."

Sam immediately warmed to Rebecca. She could see by the way Cassie's face had lit up at seeing her that their relationship was real, and she bet to herself that it was Rebecca who was behind Cassie's new-found confidence and serenity.

Rebecca poured them all a beer, while she set to preparing dinner. Cassie excitedly showed them round the house. "Here's your room," she flung open the door to a plain room, housing a large double bed. "Though if Mary the housegirl asks, you're in here Sam, and you're next door in 'my' room Janet. If anybody asks, I'll be sleeping on the couch," she winked, "though of course I'm in with Rebecca. No need to upset the locals."

"It's perfect, Cass," Sam told her. "We're going to have a great vacation."

Janet nodded, and stifled a yawn. "Sorry, didn't sleep much on the plane," she explained.

"Or for the last ten days," Sam said quietly. She hoped that now they were finally here, Janet would be able to relax and catch up on some much-needed sleep. She looked over at her lover, and was pleased to see that she looked much less tense than she had in weeks. She took her hand, "good to be here?"

Janet nodded and smiled. "Yeah," she said.

Cassie spent the next hour talking excitedly about her life, and asking Sam and Janet all about her friends at the SGC. "Let them rest, Cass," Rebecca laughed, as she called them all to the table for a wonderful dinner. "You're talking their ears off!"

"I can't help it Bec," Cassie grinned. "I'm just so excited."

After they had eaten, Sam and Rebecca went into the kitchen to clean up. Janet and Cassie had started talking more in-depth about how they were each dealing with seeing alternate versions of each other, and their conversation had become more serious. So Sam and Rebecca decided to leave them to talk on their own. After clearing away all the dishes, washing and putting everything away, Rebecca peeked into the living room. Janet and Cassie were sitting together on the big, overstuffed couch, holding hands, still talking earnestly. "Shall we give them some more time?" Rebecca suggested to Sam. "How about I take you for a tour of the village?" Sam readily agreed. She wanted to get to know Rebecca better anyway, and could see that Janet was more than happy in Cassie's company - and vice versa. She was also excited about seeing something of the village, and learning what her daughter had been doing for a year.

When they returned, nearly two hours later, there was no noise from the living room. Entering the room quietly, Sam was faced with a sight that made her gasp with emotion. Just as she had when a child of 11, Cassie was curled up in the fetal position in Janet's lap, with Janet's arms wrapped tightly around her. Both were sound asleep, though both their faces were blotchy, evidence of recent tears. "You okay?" Rebecca asked Sam perceptively, as she stumbled back into the kitchen.

"I'm fine," Sam replied, automatically. "It's just so... reminiscent. That's what they used to do, all the time, before Janet died. Seeing that again, reminds me again that Janet's gone." Her eyes filled with tears. "Don't mistake me, I love 'this' Janet so much. It just reminds me of our old family life."

Rebecca smiled sympathetically. "It's not easy for any of you, I can see that. It's just good to see Cassie sleeping, she's been sleeping badly for weeks"

"Janet too," Sam said sadly. "Looks like they're gonna be okay now, though, doesn't it?"

And she crept back into the living room, and covered her lover and her daughter with a thick blanket that Rebecca had given her. Janet stirred groggily. "Sam?" she muttered.

"It's okay, hon, you stay where you are. It's all going to be okay." And Sam dropped a kiss on her brow.

"Mmm," murmured Janet as she drifted off again, her warm precious bundle in her arms. "Love you."

"I love you too, so much," Sam whispered, as she backed out of the room. "Both of you."


	10. Plausible Deniability

The first week of the trip was a great success. Cassie and Rebecca had both taken a few days' vacation, so that they could show Sam and Janet around.

It was also good for Sam and Janet to have a real vacation for once. They knew that, being so far from Colorado Springs, they would only be called on if it were a dire emergency, so slowly they started to unwind, and to enjoy not having to think too much about work. For the first couple of days, Sam was often to be found at Cassie's computer, checking emails, talking to the SGC over the webcam and generally reassuring herself that all was going smoothly. However, Janet soon put a stop to that. "They've got the telephone number, hon," she scolded her lover, "they'll call you if they need you. You need to relax now. And I need you by my side. I may get abducted by a rampaging giraffe if my big strong colonel isn't there to protect me!"

Sam laughed, and had the grace to look sheepish. "Sorry, sweetie, it's just kinda hard to switch off." She shut the computer down. "All switched off now! And I'm all yours."

Janet grinned. "All mine, eh? I think I'll take full advantage of that tonight!"

Sam's eyes lit up. "Well, Dr Fraiser, that's certainly something I'm going to look forward to," and she leant forward to kiss Janet passionately. "There," she said smugly, "that'll give you something to think about until tonight!"

"Unhh," Janet was dazed. She pulled herself together, and grinned, wickedly. "I'll keep that in mind for later then. We'll make it a night to remember. Now come on, the girls are waiting on us, truck's all packed."

Cassie and Rebecca had organized a short safari trip, camping for two nights at a nearby game reserve. Janet was very excited about this, as was Sam, though Sam insisted on bringing her gun with her in case any of 'her girls' needed protection.

It took nearly four hours to reach the reserve. During the trip, they saw much of the local wildlife, and Cassie and Rebecca were nonplussed when Sam and Janet collapsed in a fit of giggles when they came across a giraffe. "See," Janet spluttered. "I could need your protection after all!"

"Long story," Sam told Cassie, a broad smile on her face. "Don't worry about it."

After pitching their tents in a small enclosure in the game park, they set off with a local guide to enjoy some of the sights of the reserve. They were entranced by the huge elephants, and Janet was particularly drawn to a newborn elephant cub who was being looked after by its extended family. She loved watching the group of 'aunties' who kept a close eye on the tiny beast, making sure that the visitors didn't get too close. They kept a respectful distance, and just marvelled at the sights before them.

Later on that day, far in the distance, they saw a lioness, and Sam was sure she spotted a cheetah darting through the trees. She took Janet's hand, "it's just magical, isn't it?" she whispered to her. Janet nodded.

Cassie and Rebecca were delighted by theirs guests' reactions to the beauty of what they saw and experienced, and for them it was like appreciating the country anew, through the others' eyes.

When they finally got back to their camp the first evening, they were tired and happy. Sam had taken what seemed like hundreds of photographs, and all four of them clustered round the small camera screen to check them out. "See, only 248 shots, I think that was very restrained of me," Sam laughed. "I'll have to do better tomorrow!"

Once Sam and Janet were safely in their tent, Janet kept her promise to make it that night one to remember, reminding Sam yet again what a good idea it had been to bring Janet back with her from the alternate reality; she didn't know how she had lived so long without the sort of ecstasy that Janet could, seemingly effortlessly, bring to her. When they eventually emerged from their tent the next morning, Cassie and Rebecca could see that, while they looked very relaxed - and were uncharacteristically silly - they didn't look too well rested. Cassie smiled; at least her 'parents' were enjoying themselves. They both deserved some happiness, and she was just glad they had found each other. "Long night, huh Sam?" she couldn't resist goading her.

Sam blushed and smiled broadly. "Not long enough, Cass, not long enough," and she winked saucily.

Cassie grinned widely. "Can't imagine what you mean," she laughed.

The rest of the mini-safari was a time that none of them would ever forget. They were thrilled to spot hippos, buffalo, wildebeest and zebra - though Sam was most taken by a rather comical wildebeest, and collapsed with laughter at the look on its face. "Admit it," she wheezed, when she was finally able to speak again, "it's just like him. Look at the eyebrow." And Janet suddenly doubled over with mirth too.

"What?" Cassie asked. "What's going on? Why are you laughing?" Rebecca was equally perplexed.

"It's just him, he's the spitting image of Teal'c," Janet sniggered. "He's even got the same expression on his face."

Cassie looked again, and had to admit it was true. "Take a photo," she begged Sam. "You can put it up at the SGC, Uncle Jack will love it when he next visits." So Sam got out her camera again.

**SG SG SG SG SG SG SG SG SG**

Just after Janet's arrival in 'their' reality, nearly ten months prior to Sam and Janet's trip to Tanzania, Cassie had asked Sam for permission to explain everything to Rebecca. "She's completely trustworthy," she had told her parent. "Even if we were to split up, which we won't, she'd never say anything. I hate lying to her Sam. I want her to know everything."

"Let me just talk to General Landry, Cass," Sam had said to her. "I'll call you back in an hour."

True to her word, Sam was back at the webcam in less than an hour. "He agrees with me Cass, it's fine for Rebecca to know. He wasn't too keen to start with, but I reminded him of the 'plausibility deniability' excuse. I mean, who would ever believe her even if she did tell anyone? It's a pretty outlandish tale. Though how you're gonna get her to believe you, I don't know. If you need my help with anything, you just let me know, kiddo."

So Cassie had sat down, and explained everything to her lover. She had previously explained the 'new' Janet away as "kinda like Mom's twin", which Rebecca had found hard to grasp, but she was even more confused by the full explanation. "I know it's hard to take in, Bec," Cassie had said to her. "And I know you want to believe me, but a small part of you thinks I'm nuts. Deluded. Wacko."

Rebecca had smiled at that. "You're reading my mind," she told her. "I was just trying to think of a tactful way to ask if you'd seen a shrink recently! I do want to believe you, I don't believe you've ever lied to me yet."

"And I never will," Cassie had promised, earnestly. "You could do a blood test; okay, so you won't recognize naquadah, but you'll be able to see something you can't identify in my blood. Look, have a word with Sam. She's gonna set up an encrypted link to the SGC over the webcam, maybe it'll help to talk to her too. And you can 'meet' Teal'c, he's heard all about you."

"He's the alien that found you in the bushes, right?" Rebecca had tried hard to follow the story.

"The very same," Cassie had smiled.

So, after a very long conversation with the SGC, during which Rebecca spoke to Sam, Teal'c, Daniel and even Siler, Rebecca had emerged from the small study in which the computer was housed.

"Well," she had smiled, "it's either true, or mental illness is catching."

Cassie enveloped her in a hug. "We're all a family though," she had told her, "just a slightly eccentric one. You'll get used to us."

"I'm going to enjoy learning all about you Cass, and your eccentric family," Rebecca said. "It's gonna be a hell of a journey."

Cassie smiled.


	11. Capture

The safari had been a great idea, and all four women thoroughly enjoyed themselves. It seemed to Sam that it was years since she had felt so carefree and relaxed. And she could see by the look on Janet's face that the trip had been a resounding success for her too.

Cassie and Rebecca insisted on emptying the truck themselves, telling Sam and Janet that they were banned from any work on their holiday. So Sam caught up with the news at the SGC while Janet prepared the evening meal. "It's not work," she laughed, when Cassie mock-scolded her. "This is relaxation to me, sweetie."

**SG SG SG SG SG SG SG SG SG SG**

"Back to work tomorrow," Rebecca said, as they all sat round the table, replete from a magnificent dinner. "Actually," she admitted. "I'm quite looking forward to it. We're starting the new vaccination program tomorrow, and it'll be real exciting if we can keep on top of it."

"Can I help?" Janet asked. "Seriously, I'd like to. And I'd like to see the clinic anyhow, I want to know how you manage to get so much done with comparatively few resources."

"You sure?" Rebecca asked. "It's going to be a long day. Hell, it's going to be a long couple of weeks!"

"Well, let's see if I can help to make them just a bit shorter. If Sam doesn't mind, that is?" and she looked over at her lover.

"You go ahead, hon," Sam told her. "I'd like to go in with Cass, visit the school, see what she does all day. And I may be able to help fix that troublesome generator." While on their safari, Cassie had told Sam and Janet of the trouble that they had when the temperamental generator played up, and they lost all lighting in the school, which seemed to happen at least once a week.

"That's great," Cassie smiled. "I really want to show you around anyway. The kids'll love you. And the head teacher'll love you even more if you can get that beast to behave.

**SG SG SG SG SG SG SG SG SG SG**

By the end of the third day, the first run of the vaccination program at the clinic was running way ahead of schedule, thanks in great part to Janet's expertise with a needle. "It's all that practicing on General O'Neill," she grinned evilly when she recounted their success to Sam that night. "Won't he be glad to know that his butt served such a noble purpose?" They collapsed with laughter.

Sam had also completely stripped and rebuilt the ancient generator by the end of the first day, and it was now running more smoothly than ever before. She had also taught the children the rudiments of baseball in their lunch hour. "Why did I never know you were such a whizz with a baseball bat, Sam?" Cassie asked her.

"Oh I'm a woman of many secrets, Cass," Sam winked mischievously with her. "I have hidden depths you know!"

Cassie laughed. It had been years since she had seen Sam so relaxed and happy, and she rejoiced in it. Janet may not be her mom, but she had certainly turned Sam's life around, and Cassie loved her for it.

Sam had been so pleased to see first hand the work that Cassie was doing at the school. Her daughter had grown into a mature, responsible young woman, with a sharp sense of humor and great humanity. She obviously reveled in her work in the small village, and was clearly delighted to be making a real difference. She was equally popular with the children and other teachers, and was clearly a born teacher. Sam was so proud.

**SG SG SG SG SG SG SG SG SG SG**

"Simon has asked me to fix his motorbike next," Sam told Janet that evening.

"Who's Simon?" Janet asked.

"Just one of the teachers at the school. D'you mind? He bought up two late 1950 BSA bikes last year, and he's trying to get one decent working bike out of them. He's done really well, in fact," Sam was gabbling now. "I think two days' work should do it."

"You just wanna play bikes, don't'cha Sam?" Janet laughed.

Sam nodded cheerfully. "The BSA is a beautiful bike, Jan," she admitted bashfully. "You don't often come across them in a usable condition. It would be fun to tinker."

"You go ahead, sweetie," Janet took her hand, and looked deep into her azure eyes. "Rebecca reckons we've got enough vaccine to last out the week, and she and Cass plan to go to Dar on Saturday for a new batch. So I'll be busy anyway. You play with your toys. Just make sure you're back at a decent hour in the evening. We have things to do!" And she kissed Sam thoroughly, leaving her in no doubt of what she meant.

"Oh I'll make sure of that, Dr Fraiser," Sam gasped at the intensity of the kiss. "No overtime, I promise."

**SG SG SG SG SG SG SG SG SG SG**

By Friday evening, the work on the bike was almost complete with only some tweaks on the headlights left to do, and Rebecca and Janet had almost exhausted the supply of vaccine - and themselves. So when Sam took a tired Janet to bed, she was unsurprised when her lover fell to sleep almost immediately. So much for 'things to do' she laughed to herself. "Sorry, Sam," Janet muttered as she drifted off. "Tired."

"Don't be sorry, sweetheart," Sam pulled her into her arms. "We'll make up for it tomorrow. You sleep now."

So they didn't hear the truck as it pulled out at 6am the next day. Cassie insisted on driving to Dar Es Salaam, telling Rebecca that she could drive back. "You're still tired," she told her, "you can take over later."

**SG SG SG SG SG SG SG SG SG SG**

The collection of the vaccine was simple and easy, a relatively rare phenomenon in Tanzania, where protocol often fuddled the issue, and 'tomorrow' was always the promise. "My turn now," Rebecca swatted Cassie's hand away from the door of the driver's seat in the truck as they set off back to the village. "You got to play this morning, I'm gonna drive back."

Cassie laughed. "Okay, I give in," she said. "Don't forget, we'll likely need to get gas on the way home."

"There's a gas station about an hour from the village, we've got plenty to last until then," Rebecca told her. "We'll stop there, and then you can call Sam and Janet and tell them when we're nearly home."

So that's what they did. They stopped at the small gas station, both used the bathroom and filled up the truck's monster gas tank. Cassie called Sam's cellphone, "We'll be back in an hour, Sam," she told her. "So get those beers in the chiller!" They were full of energy and chattering loudly to each other; neither of them noticed the jeep that had taken off ahead of them.

When they saw it apparently broken down on the side of the road ten minutes out, they stopped to help. Rebecca hopped down from the truck, "Wanna tow?" she offered. That was when Cassie saw a large man emerge from the jeep and sneak up behind Rebecca, grabbing her by the throat.

Cassie leapt out of the truck, screaming. "Let her alone you bastards!" In her fury, she at least had the presence of mind to press the 'last call' button on her cellphone. So when Sam answered her cell, she heard her daughter screaming in fury at the four men in the jeep. She felt sickened when she realized that the girls had been ambushed.

"Leave her!" one of the men shouted. "We only need the blonde. Come on!" and they tried to force a struggling and screaming Rebecca into the jeep. They didn't count on Cassie's anger and desperation though and, despite her small size, she launched herself at the biggest of the men and tried to drag him off her lover. He pushed her away with ease, and Sam could only listen helplessly as two of the other men set about her daughter, kicking and punching her. It was only when they flung her viciously against the side of the truck, cracking her head against the glass that she slumped, unconscious, to the ground.

"Let's go!" one of them shouted.

"No!" screamed Rebecca, thrashing wildly against the firm hold. "You can't leave her there in the sun; she'll die in this heat. At least put her in the shade. I'll co-operate if you just move her to the shade."

Reluctantly, one of the gang hauled Cassie roughly by the scruff of the neck and dumped her unceremoniously round the other side of the truck which was, at least, partly shaded. They then roughly bundled Rebecca into the jeep, and the vehicle screeched off at high speed.

**SG SG SG SG SG SG SG SG SG SG**

"The bike," Sam said, desperately, to Janet. "We'll take the bike. They were only an hour away. It's the quickest way."

"My bag," Janet said. "In case they're hurt."

Sam nodded, and ran to get the bike out of the shed. "Meet me out front," she commanded.

In less than a minute, Janet was clutching her medical bag and some bottles of water. Sam helped her stow these in the saddlebags on the back of the bike, and - without helmets - they roared off in the direction of Dar Es Salaam, both with their hearts in their mouths, praying that their daughter and her partner would be unharmed.

Janet clung tightly to Sam's slim waist as they shot along the dirt road. The potholes in the country were infamous, so the drive was a difficult one for Sam. Fortunately, she was an expert biker; she also knew how to find the fine line between getting there as fast as possible, and making sure they arrived safely. She knew she would never forgive herself if foolish driving meant they didn't get there. Sam could feel Janet's arms tighten around her, and even through the vibrations caused by the bike and the bad state of the roads, she could feel her shaking. She took one hand off the bike's handlebars and covered one of Janet's own with it, trying to give her lover a confidence and strength she didn't feel herself. She didn't even notice the tears streaming down her own face.

**SG SG SG SG SG SG SG SG SG SG**

The light had just started to fade when Sam came across the welcome sight of Rebecca's truck on the side of the road. She couldn't see either Cassie or Rebecca as she screeched to a halt. "She's here," she heard Janet shout, and they both ran to her on the far side of the truck. Janet gasped when she saw the dried blood on the unconscious woman's face; she immediately felt for a pulse, and was relieved to find one, albeit weak. "She's alive!" she told Sam. "Pass me my bag."

Janet quickly established that Cassie was only badly concussed, with no broken bones, while Sam searched the area for any sign of Rebecca. Sam could see from the tracks on the ground that the other vehicle involved - doubtless containing the men she heard shouting on her cellphone - had gone back in the other direction. However, she knew that the dust road would not yield good enough tracks to follow. She returned to Janet and Cassie.

Cassie was slowly coming round. Unfocused eyes looked up at Sam and Janet. "Sam?" her voice was so weak. "They've taken her. They've taken Rebecca."

Sam knelt down, and cupped her daughter's face gently. "I know, sweetie. We'll find her. We'll get her back. I swear." She looked over at an anguished Janet, and wondered how she was going to keep her promise.


	12. Planning

Carefully, Sam lifted Cassie into the truck, where Janet joined her and gently pulled her head onto her lap, murmuring soothing noises. Cassie had fallen unconscious again, for which Sam was grateful - she couldn't bear to see the anguish in her eyes.

Quickly, Sam hauled the bike onto the open back of the truck. "Ready?" she asked Janet.

"Blanket," Janet said. Despite the heat, Cassie was shaking with shock. Sam rooted around the back of the truck, and found a light blanket, which she tucked securely round her daughter, before climbing into the driver's seat.

"We'll find her Janet," she told her lover, determinedly. "Whatever it takes, we'll find her."

Janet nodded, and just prayed that it was true. Cassie had already been through so much in her short life, she deserved a break.

Sam drove them home, expertly avoiding as many of the potholes as she could. Even so, Cassie often jerked and moaned with the movement. "Shh," Janet told her. "We're nearly back. Everything's gonna be alright. We'll make sure of that."

Finally, they reached the compound. Sam very tenderly took her daughter from Janet's lap, and carried her upstairs. As she laid her on her bed, the bruising from the thugs was all too apparent on her face. She was horrified to see that it extended down her back and side. As she and Janet peeled off Cassie's filthy clothing, they could see the full extent of the trauma the young woman had been through. Very gingerly, they wiped her down and changed her into a loose nightshirt.

"She okay?" Sam asked Janet fearfully.

"Nothin' broken," Janet told her. "She's got a pretty severe concussion, though, that'll make her very nauseous - and that's without the dehydration and shock. She's gonna be very sore for a few weeks too. Those men must be animals," she choked back a sob. "They didn't have to do all this." She leaned forward, and tenderly brushed the hair out of Cassie's eyes. Cassie stirred. "Hey sweetie," Janet murmured. "Think you can manage some water?"

"I'll try," Cassie said in a weak voice. Gently Janet lifted her up slightly and persuaded her to take a few sips. "Feel sick," Cassie said, thickly.

"I know, sweetie, you will for a while. We'll look after you. And we'll find Rebecca. Just try and rest now." She helped her to lie down, and took her shaking hand between her own. "Sleep now Cass."

**SG SG SG SG SG SG SG SG**

"You okay here with her Jan?" Sam asked once Cassie was settled and hooked up to an IV to rehydrate her. "I'm gonna try and get through to the SGC, see if they can patch me through to General O'Neill. We've got to work out how to get Rebecca back."

"You go," Janet told her. "We'll be okay here. Just do what you can Sam," she pleaded, looking up at her lover with tears in her eyes.

Sam kissed her, softly and deeply. "We'll find her," she repeated. "We will. Everything will be alright. I'm gonna make sure of it." She pretended a confidence she didn't feel; in truth, she didn't know where to start. She knew that discussing it with the general would help; and she knew he loved Cassie and would put all means at their disposal. That would surely help.

**SG SG SG SG SG SG SG SG**

Two hours later, Sam let herself back into Cassie's room. She was greeted by the sight of her daughter wrapped in her lover's arms. Janet had climbed onto the bed with her, and was holding her tight, trying to reassure her with her presence.

"How's she doin'?" Sam whispered.

"Asleep, at last," Janet told her. "Any news?"

Sam nodded.

"Hang on," Janet said, and very gently laid Cassie down as she climbed off the bed. She took Sam by the hand, pulling her into the corridor. "Don't want to wake her," she told her in a quiet voice. "So did you get through to O'Neill?"

"Yeah," Sam told her, running her hand through her short locks and taking a deep breath. Janet saw that Sam, too, was exhausted; this situation was draining for all of them. "He wants to help. He says we can use the Odyssey if we need to. Once we find where she is. We've got a plan that might work. But we've got to work out where they're holding her. He's got a team working on that right now."

"How can they do that from there?" Janet was confused.

"Intelligence," Sam said. "They're gonna check out all the gangs operating on this continent. Apparently, they've already got one major suspect; a Gunther Brehme has kidnapped several high-fliers in Africa. They're gonna check if he's formed a gang here."

"But Rebecca's not a high-flier," Janet protested. "She's an ordinary doctor!"

"Her Dad owns Hagan Pharmaceuticals," Sam reminded her. "That could make her a target. It's just a theory," she took Janet's hand softly between her own. "They're checking it out. The 'good' news, if there is such a thing," she laughed mirthlessly at the irony, "is that whoever it is, is going to have to get in contact sooner or later. So General O'Neill's got the Odyssey scanning this house. Any incoming cellphone calls and, with a bit of luck, they'll be able to triangulate the signal and pinpoint where it's coming from. Landlines are even easier, but they're not likely to use those. Unless they're stupid, and Brehme's not stupid, apparently. If it is him." Tears formed in Sam's eyes.

"What is it hon?" Janet was alarmed at the fear she saw in her lover.

"He's an animal, Jan," Sam said in a low voice. "The last two times he did this they killed the captives. Not before they tortured them."

"Oh God," Janet was shocked.

"It gets worse," Sam told her. "Last time their victim was a woman. She was raped, Jan. Repeatedly. Her family paid the ransom, but when the police got to the agreed handover point, they had put a bullet in her head. We've got to get to her before they get a chance to do that. We've got to make them believe we're getting the money together, and then get in before 'handover'."

A moan from the bedroom brought them both back to Cassie's side. Her face was pale in the moonlight. "Hurts," Cassie said in a small, weak voice.

Janet looked at her watch. "I think I can probably give you something for that now, Cass," she told her. She had not wanted to give her any drugs too soon after the attack because of her concussion, but she reckoned it would be okay now. So she injected a light painkiller and sedative into the IV.

"Sam?" Cassie whispered. "Have you found her?"

Sam perched on the edge of the bed, and softly laid her hand on her daughter's arm. "Not yet, honey," she told her. "But we've got a plan. Your Uncle Jack's gonna help us. We'll find out where she is, and then we'll use the Odyssey to get her out. We're doing everything possible, there's a whole team at the SGC checking intelligence right now. Try not to worry," she knew the pointlessness of that remark. "Your job is to get well now, so you can be there for Rebecca when she comes home. Can you try and do that Cass?"

Cassie nodded, trying to blink back the tears in her eyes. Sam leant down and enveloped her daughter in a tight hug. "Sleep now. As soon as we know anything, I'll let you know. I promise." Cassie's eyes were already closing.

Sam and Janet sat with her as she drifted off. Only when she was sound asleep did Janet turn to Sam. "So how you gonna do it?" she asked her. "How are you going to get her out?"

"That's the easy part," Sam told her. "I'll break in, somehow, and when I find Rebecca, I'll get us both beamed up to the Odyssey. The watch, remember?" and she pointed to her specially adapted wristwatch that Landry had insisted she take with her to Tanzania. She needed only to press the button and the Odyssey would locate her signal, and beam her aboard.

"Shit Sam," Janet said. "That sounds dangerous. Why can't the Odyssey just beam her out straight, once we find her?"

"It doesn't work that way," Sam explained. "They need the signal to pinpoint exactly. And no," she anticipated Janet's next question. "They can't beam me straight in either. It's safer if I try to break in. If I suddenly appear in room with the gang, they'll shoot me first, ask questions later. My plan is to sneak in to find Rebecca. But even if they capture me first," she took Janet's hand, reassuringly, "they won't kill me. Not straight off; they'll keep me until they find out if they can make some money out of me too. Anyway," she tried to smile, "if anything goes wrong, I just need to press this button, and I'm out of there. It's a no-risk plan."

"Hardly," Janet's voice was icy with fear. "It's a pretty high-risk plan if you ask me. Can't somebody else do it?"

"No, sweetie, they can't. General O'Neill offered, but I can't let him. First, Cassie's my daughter. Second, and this is important. The gang will probably have been watching the house. So they'll know who I am; they'll think I'm just an aunt who wants to save the girl. If Jack goes in, they'll figure something bigger's going on, and they'll likely shoot the pair of them and hightail it out of there. I couldn't let Cassie go through that. I know what it's like to lose the love of your life." Janet knew Sam was talking about the 'other' Janet. "I can't let her go through that. And, hell, I've been in much more dangerous situations. You know me," she attempted a grin. "I'm indestructible."

"Well you just see that you stay that way," Janet tried to stop her voice from breaking. "I need you. And in one piece."

"Scout's honor," Sam promised her, and leant in for a kiss. "I've got too much to lose. We all have."


	13. Finding Her

Sam and Janet hardly slept that first night; they spent most of the night in Cassie's room, soothing her when she moaned in her sleep, and reassuring her that they would do all in their power to get Rebecca back safely.

What time Sam didn't spend by her daughter's bedside, she spent on the net, researching everything she could find about Brehme and his gang. She was horrified to learn that he had made his way round the African continent, cynically taking advantage of the comparatively poor security measures there to kidnap Westerners. Some of his kidnaps failed to secure him any money at all; others had been more successful. He had done the same over a period of nearly ten years in the Middle East, but had pulled out once the political situation got too dangerous for him. The only slightly 'good' news was that most of the victims were found alive; it seemed that he and his gang only murdered their victims when they got close to being caught. So she realized that she would have to tread carefully with the rescue.

Even if Sam hadn't already decided that she would be the one to break into the complex, she knew now that it would have to be her, and her alone. Bringing in O'Neill, or any of the others, would signal to Brehme that the 'big guns' were involved, and would put Rebecca at unnecessary risk.

"I've got to take my handgun," she told Janet the next day. "They know I'm Air Force. If I didn't take a gun, and they caught me, they'd know something was going on."

Janet blanched. She knew that if Sam were to take a gun, the chances of it being used on her if things went wrong were high.

Sam was one step ahead of her. "Don't worry, hon, I'm gonna rig it."

"Rig it?" Janet was confused.

"Rig it to explode in the user's hand. So if they catch me and take it from me, and then shoot me with it, it'll take the shooter out, not me."

"How the hell can you be sure of that?" Janet was angry. She couldn't bear the thought of losing the woman she had started to think of as irreplaceable in her life. "Can you really guarantee that?"

"Yes," Sam said simply. She caressed her lover's face. "I'll put a tiny pin half way down the barrel. That way, as soon as the bullet is fired, at incredible velocity, it'll hit an unexpected barrier, and the energy created in its firing will have to disperse somewhere. The gun'll just explode. It'd likely take the shooter's arm off."

Janet gulped.

"It won't be pretty," Sam agreed. "And I'm hoping it won't come to that. It's just a safety measure. After all, all I need to do is to get to Rebecca, and to activate the watch. We'll be beamed right out of there. Couldn't be simpler. Hey," she saw a single tear track down Janet's cheek. "It's gonna be okay. Really it will. I'll make sure of it. And General O'Neill's going to help us. With the Odyssey on our side, what could go wrong?"

Janet nodded. Sam took her in her arms and held her tight. "Just promise me you'll be careful, Sam," Janet begged. "I couldn't bear to lose you."

"You won't lose me sweetie," Sam told her, earnestly. "In a few days, we'll all be back together. Everything's going to be okay."

**SG SG SG SG SG SG SG SG SG SG SG**

Cassie's cellphone vibrated and beeped. Sam leapt over and grabbed it from the kitchen table. 'One multimedia message,' announced the screen. With trembling fingers, she pressed enter. She gasped as she saw a photograph showing a dirty and badly bruised Rebecca, tied to a chair. She was holding a piece of card, with the words "$5m. Unmarked notes. 3 days. When/where/how details to follow."

"Okay," Sam breathed. "That's good. At least they're getting in touch."

"Show me," Janet commanded. Sam handed the phone over. "Oh God," she whispered.

"At least she's still alive, Jan," Sam reassured her. "And General O'Neill's got the Odyssey scanning this house. He may have a fix on their position."

As she spoke, her own cellphone rang insistently. "Carter," she answered brusquely. "Oh hi Sir. Any luck? Well that's better than nothing. No, it was sent from Rebecca's phone, we expected that. Brehme may be many things, but he's not stupid. I think so, I need to analyze it properly, I haven't got the right equipment here. I think that may be best, yes. Okay Sir, speak to you soon. And Sir? Thank you."

"No luck?" Janet asked.

"He's narrowed it down to 50 square kilometres. I know," she pre-empted Janet's next remark. "That's a huge area. But there are some clues in the picture. Look, you can see brickwork in the corner there." Seeing Janet's unconvinced expression, she went on, "Not many buildings in this area have brick in them. This could really narrow it down. I need to do a proper analysis. I'm going up to the Odyssey for a couple of hours, if you think you'll be okay here with Cass?"

"We'll be fine," Janet rallied, determined to help as much as she could. "Cassie's sleeping, the sedatives worked. And she'll be fine when she wakes up, physically at least."

"I'll phone every half hour," Sam promised. "Tell Cass I love her."

"She knows that Sam," Janet smiled.

"I love you too, Jan," Sam's voice was full of emotion. She pulled her lover gently to her, and kissed her deeply, her left hand cupping Janet's right breast, fondling it gently.

Janet responded to the kiss, pressing herself tight against Sam. "Go," she told her, hoarsely. "Before I change my mind."

Sam nodded, and pressed the small button on her wristwatch. A white light enveloped her, and she disappeared. A minute later, Janet's phone beeped. "Got here safely," announced the SMS, "see you in a couple of hours."

**SG SG SG SG SG SG SG SG SG SG SG**

Janet made her way back into Cassie's bedroom. Cassie was stirring, so Janet took her hand and held it softly.

"Janet?" Cassie asked weakly.

"I'm here baby," Janet told her. "You're gonna be okay."

"Rebecca?" Cassie looked round, urgently.

"Not yet, Sam's working on it Cass," Janet said.

Cassie's eyes filled with tears. "Hold me?" she asked Janet, who immediately sat on the bed and gathered her in her arms, and held her tight.

"Janet?" Cassie asked.

"Yes sweetie?" Janet was listening.

"Can I call you Mom? I know you're not her, not exactly. But you're just like her. And I want you to be my Mom. I think she'd want that too."

Janet fought to control her emotions. "I'd be honored to be your Mom, Cass. I loved my Cass so much, and I love you too. I can't tell you what it's like to have you here, in my arms."

Cassie sniffed. "Stay with me, Mom," she whispered.

"For as long as you need me Cassie, for as long as you need me," she promised 'her' daughter.

**SG SG SG SG SG SG SG SG SG SG SG**

"So Carter, what have you come up with?" O'Neill asked.

"Well, Sir. The building's obviously made of brick, that much we know. What's more important, though, is the road outside. You can't see much with the naked eye," she admitted. "But looking at 1200%, you can see the usual dirt road here," she pointed to the screen. "But just next to it, you can see a small amount of what looks just like Tarmac. Of course you know what that means Sir?"

"Explain it to me anyway," O'Neill said, drily. He was used to Sam's explanations, and knew she'd come to the point sooner rather than later.

"Tarmac, Sir," Sam said patiently. "There's Tarmac round Cassie's complex in the village, and also in parts of the town. But the only Tarmac near a brick building is the old airstrip, about 35km from the village. I can't be sure, Sir, but my guess is that's where she is."

"Well, Carter, let's go see," O'Neill was delighted that at last they had a concrete lead. He loved Cassie like a niece, and couldn't bear to see her hurt. "What can you tell me about the airstrip?"

"All I know is that it was abandoned three years ago when they built the new airfield. It's derelict in places, so it's not even used for storage."

"Let's go check out the life signs, then we'll make a plan," O'Neill said.

**SG SG SG SG SG SG SG SG SG SG SG**

Three hours later, Sam was beamed back into the house, this time with O'Neill in tow. Janet looked up from the couch where she was sitting with her arm round Cassie.

"Hey Cassie," O'Neill sat quietly on the other side of her.

"Uncle Jack!" Cassie flung her arms round his neck, and he held her in his strong arms.

"We think we've found her, Cass," he told her. "We've got a plan. If it all works out, she'll be back here by tomorrow evening. I know," he held up his hands, "you want her back now. Of course you do. But we want her to be safe. So we're gonna have to watch the place, for anything up to a day, to find the best time to go in."

"He works to a pattern," Sam interjected. "And if we can work out that pattern, we can maximize our chances of success. In previous kidnaps, he has tended to stay overnight where the victim's being held. But then he goes off during the day, to attend to his other 'businesses', and often takes his goons with him, leaving just one or two behind to guard the prisoner."

"What other 'businesses'?" Janet was almost afraid to ask.

"Just what you'd expect," Sam's expression was grim. "Drugs mostly. He's also been suspected of involvement in pornography and prostitution. Nice man."

O'Neill sat down with Cassandra, and explained everything to her - how Sam was going to go in and retrieve Rebecca, how they were doing everything possible to minimize risk to Sam and to Rebecca.

When Janet looked up, she realized Sam had disappeared. She found her in the kitchen, disassembling her handgun. "Want a hand?" she asked, quietly.

Sam shook her head. "I'm good," she replied. "Stay though," she looked up and gave her lover a small, sad, smile. "I could do with the company."

"You look exhausted Sam," Janet told her gently.

"You too, Jan," Sam replied. "It's been a bad time, hasn't it?"

Janet nodded her agreement. "I know you're going to do this Sam. And I know you've got to, I understand that. But I want to give you a sedative so you sleep tonight. The general can run the surveillance. You need to be rested before you go."

Sam shook her head. "No sedative, Jan," she said, firmly. "But I will sleep tonight, I promise. We both will. General O'Neill's already told me that. In fact," she smiled, almost sheepishly, "he's told me that 'no sleep, no Odyssey'. Said he didn't want me taking unnecessary risks. You sure you two haven't been talking behind my back?"

Janet smiled back. "You'll never know," she teased.

**SG SG SG SG SG SG SG SG SG SG SG**

The four of them had dinner together, then the three women made their way to bed, while O'Neill headed back to the Odyssey.

"We're leaving the doors open, Cass," Janet told her daughter as she tucked her into bed. "You do the same. If you need us, you just need to call."

"Thanks Mom," Cass said.

"Mom?" Sam asked, as they reached their room, surprised but delighted by this new development.

"Yeah," Janet answered shyly. "Do you mind?"

"Of course I don't mind," Sam told her, "it's great. Her mom would have wanted that."

"That's what Cassie said," Janet replied, climbing into bed and pulling her lover in with her. She wrapped herself round Sam, and they stayed tightly wound all night, clinging to each other as if each was afraid the other would disappear.

**SG SG SG SG SG SG SG SG SG SG SG**

Sam slept soundly, though she was up preparing for the day at 0500hrs. She talked to O'Neill, who told her that, if Brehme stuck to the pattern of the day before, the best time to break in to the complex was 1445hrs, fifteen minutes after Brehme and most of his gang headed to their other 'office'. "He'll be gone for nearly two hours Carter, plenty of time for you to get in there and get Rebecca."

So as to avoid alerting Brehme to O'Neill's involvement, Sam decided to use Simon's motorbike to get to the abandoned airstrip, and by 1300hrs was ready to leave. Janet was silent, though Sam could see the fear in her eyes. Sam hugged Cassie briefly, before turning to the General. "You'll take them both up with you to the Odyssey Sir?" she checked, for the fifth time.

"As soon as you've gone, Carter," he promised, then he and Cassie tactfully withdrew into the living room, leaving Sam facing Janet in the kitchen.

"I love you," Janet said, simply. "More than life."

"I love you too," Sam's voice was strong and determined. "That's why I'll be back with you tonight. We can celebrate then."

"Okay," Janet's voice was small.

Sam kissed her very gently on the lips. "Look after Cassie," she whispered. "See you soon."

**SG SG SG SG SG SG SG SG SG SG SG**

Sam drew up to the airstrip on the bike, and hid herself and the bike behind an outcrop of rocks. It was only 1420 hours, so she had to sit it out and wait until she got the signal from O'Neill. Just after she settled down to watch, she saw two trucks leaving the airstrip, and counted 11 men. That meant, if the scans had been accurate, that there were two men and, she prayed, Rebecca, still in the building.

Her radio clicked on. "Three life signs in there, Carter," she recognized the General's voice. "My guess is she's at the back on the ground floor, the other two are moving around upstairs. That's also supported by the tarmac at the back of the building. Whenever you're ready Carter."

"Going in now, Sir," Sam replied quietly. "Requesting radio silence." And she headed toward the building. Her lock-picking skills meant that she was inside in less than a minute. She made her way to the back of the building, and found that the back room was locked, using a large padlock. She made quick work of the padlock, and eased the door open.

Sam nearly cried out when she saw a bruised and filthy - but definitely alive - Rebecca cowering in the far corner of the room. She held up her finger to her mouth, to signify that Rebecca should remain silent. Rebecca's look of relief was clear; however, a second later, fear flashed in her eyes again.

Sam half-turned, when she felt a steel blade against her neck. "Goin' somewhere blondie?" a deep voice called.


	14. Rescue

Sam turned slowly and carefully, and saw her attacker's face as he held the knife to her throat.

"Come to get your friend?" he sneered. His breath was foul, and Sam could feel it hot on her face. She saw from the glassy look in his eyes, and the telltale trace of white powder under his nose that he was stoned. Stoned and therefore unpredictable, she realized. She'd have to play this one carefully.

"You're quiet a piece of ass yourself," he said, appreciatively, looking her up and down. "Maybe you want to give your dyke pal the evening off?" And he lowered the knife, using it to pop the top button on her shirt, eyeing her lustfully.

Sam took advantage of his momentary slip in concentration to knee him hard between the legs, simultaneously knocking the knife out of his hand. He doubled in agony, lashing out as he jacknifed. Purely by chance he cracked Sam in the jaw, sending her head back against the concrete, where it ricocheted sickeningly and sent her to her knees. Dazed by the impact, and struggling to remain conscious, Sam reached out to seize the knife. Her attacker was quick on his feet, however, the drug in his system giving him an unnatural speed. Just as Sam got her fingers round the knife's handle, he stomped hard on her wrist, snapping it like a twig, and then ground his heel onto her vulnerable fingers. Sam cried out, involuntarily, cradling the shattered limb in her other hand.

"Bitch!" bellowed her attacker. "Think you can get away from me? I'll show you." And he kicked her viciously in the ribs, repeatedly. Sam panted in agony, her vision greying alarmingly. She knew she had to remain conscious, or all would be lost. The final kick dislodged her gun from its holster; her attacker seized it quickly, and stepped back a few paces. He trained the gun on Sam. "You gonna co-operate now, little lady?" he whined in a suggestive tone, grabbing crudely at his crotch to make his intentions clear. "I've got a soft spot for blondes. You've gotta give me a reason to keep you alive."

Sam raised her head painfully. She looked at him straight in the eye. "Fuck you, asshole," she rasped.

"Sam!" screamed Rebecca, as the goon raised the gun and aimed it straight at Sam's skull. As the gun went off, she screamed again and turned away, hiding her head in her arms, sobbing helplessly. So she wasn't sure she heard right, when Sam's weak voice called over to her.

"Rebecca?" Sam said. "It's okay; it's over. It's gonna be okay. I promise. No, don't look over there." Sam wanted to save her the sight of the goon splattered all over the walls; she had clearly been through hell in the last few days, and this was the last thing she needed. But it was pointless, and she saw Rebecca blanch as she looked over to where her rapist had stood. He was unrecognizable. Sam had been wrong, he hadn't blown his arm off. However, over half of his head had been blown off by the explosion, and blood and brain were strewn all over.

"Sam?" Rebecca's voice was no more than a whisper.

"I'll be okay," Sam told her. She was in too much pain to move. "I need you to do something for me, can you manage that?" Rebecca was almost non-responsive, the shock of the last few days and the preceding minutes finally registering. "Rebecca?" Sam's tone was harsher. "Are you listening?"

She saw Rebecca shake herself, willing herself to co-operate. "Sorry," she said, and got carefully to her feet, wincing in pain, making her way over to Sam. She put her hand gently on Sam's uninjured arm. "What d'you need?"

"Hold me as tight as you can," Sam panted. "Then push the button on my watch," Sam knew she'd never manage it herself with her shattered hand. "It's gonna be okay. We're getting out of here."

Very carefully, Rebecca gathered the injured woman in her arms. "Tighter," Sam said. Rebecca complied, and Sam tried to muffle the cry of pain when her battered ribs protested.

"M'okay," Sam told her. "Now hit the button."

A second later, a white light enveloped them both, beaming them out of the building and depositing them, none too gently, in the Odyssey's cargo bay. Sam screamed in agony as they hit the floor in the bay.

Rebecca had no idea what had just happened. Despite her pain, Sam managed a small smile. "It's over, Rebecca. You're safe now. It's over." And she finally allowed the pain to take over, and gave herself up gratefully to unconsciousness.

Seconds later, Janet came running into the cargo bag. "Rebecca?" she called urgently, as she saw her cradling the unconscious woman.

"She's okay. We're both okay. Well, not entirely, but we will be." Rebecca struggled to control her emotions.

"Oh thank God," Janet was on her knees, checking Sam over.

"Broken wrist, fingers and probably cracked ribs. And she's likely got a concussion too," Rebecca told her. "But she should be fine. She saved my life."

At that moment, Cassie entered the bay. She paled at the sight of Rebecca's bruised and battered face and the injured Sam, who was now slowly coming to, in Janet's arms.

"We're okay," Rebecca told her, painfully getting to her feet. "We're okay."

Cassie flung herself into her shaking lover's arms. "I was so scared I'd never see you again."

"I'm here, Cass," Rebecca reassured her, "and I'm not going anywhere." Despite her assertions that she was fine, though, Cassie could see that this was far from the truth. Physically she had obviously been attacked, probably more than once. And if what Cassie feared were true, the mental scars would be even harder to recover from. She held her tight, trying to pour some of her own strength into the woman she loved.

"We'll get you through this Bec," she whispered. "It's all gonna be alright."

Rebecca nodded tearfully. "Thanks to Sam," she said. "She saved me."

"Yeah," Cassie agreed. "That's what she does."

**SG SG SG SG SG SG SG SG**

On the bridge, O'Neill was still watching the building on the abandoned airstrip. Just as he was about to give the order to move out, he saw a vehicle returning. Zooming in, he was able to discern Brehme and four members of his gang.

He then looked on the screen that showed the small group in the cargo bay, which only served to heighten his resolve.

"Take 'em out," he commanded Major Watts, who was at the controls.

"Sir?" the major queried. After all, the vehicle posed no threat to the Odyssey.

"Eliminate them," O'Neill confirmed, ice in his voice. "I don't want him free to do that to anybody ever again. The Air Force'll cover it up. Exploding gas tank, that's what we'll say."

So Watts directed the energy weapon at the small truck, which immediately became a fireball.

"Get us back to the SGC stat," O'Neill commanded. "We need to get those two to the infirmary."

**SG SG SG SG SG SG SG SG**

Twenty minutes after Sam and Rebecca arrived in the cargo bay, they had been loaded onto gurneys at the SGC and taken to the infirmary.

Sam was by now fully awake. Despite her pain, she knew her injuries were superficial - comparatively, at least. She reached out with her good hand and touched Janet's arm. "I'm okay, hon. Carolyn can help me. Cass and Rebecca need you now. He was an animal Jan," tears threatened to spill over. "Carolyn can patch me up, go to them will you hon?"

"Okay, sweetie, if that's what you want. I won't be far, okay?"

**SG SG SG SG SG SG SG SG**

One look at Rebecca, and Janet ushered her, and Cassie, into an area she had always prayed she would never have to use - the rape suite. Just one glance at the shaken woman's face was enough to tell her that all their worst fears had been confirmed.

Shortly before her death, the 'first' Janet had insisted on a rape suite being built near the infirmary. So far, the SGC had been lucky, and there had never been a need for it, despite a few close calls. But the luck had finally run out, and Janet was grateful for her counterpart's foresight. The suite was nicely decorated, and was a warm, soft area that had none of the sharp edges or coldness of the infirmary.

Rebecca was almost silent as Cassie led her to the bed in the suite, but was shaking, more with shock than the cold. Gently, Cassie pulled the blankets up over her lover.

Janet knew that sensitivity was vital, and that, most important of all, Rebecca should feel in charge of her own treatment. She had had control wrested from her in a violent and hideous manner; Janet was determined she would not feel so helpless again.

She went over quietly to her side, and laid a hand on her arm softly. "Rebecca?" she said, quietly. Rebecca turned and looked at her. "You know what we've got to do, right?" Janet hated even having to ask. She knew Rebecca was a doctor, and probably knew as much about the procedures as she did. She also knew that everything changed when you were the patient. Even in her mind, Janet didn't want to use the word 'victim'.

Rebecca nodded. "I know," she said in a very small voice. "It's okay."

"No," Janet replied. "It's not okay, I know that. But we'll try and make this as easy as possible for you. The good news," she tried not to stumble over the words, knowing the futility of talking about 'good news' at a time like this, "the good news is that there won't be any trial. So we don't have to worry about evidence. All we have to do is to check you out, and treat any injuries."

"Okay," said Rebecca.

"You're in charge, though," Janet reminded her. "You have full control. Would you like me to get you a different doctor? Carolyn Lam's in the infirmary, she's a great physician, and she'll be very gentle."

"No," Rebecca's voice was muffled. "Would you do it? I feel... I feel safe with you. Unless you don't want to?"

"Whatever you want," Janet reassured her. "I may need some help though. Do you want Cassie to stay, or should I get Sharon in?"

"I don't want Cassie to see this," Rebecca's words were rushed and panicky. She turned to her lover. "Cass? I'm sorry. There are some things I don't want you to see. Not yet. Is that okay?"

"Of course it's okay," Cassie's heart was breaking; she wanted nothing more than to hold Rebecca, to stay with it at this terrible time. But she realized that the best thing she could do for her would be to do as she asked. "I'll be outside. You just say when you want me back, and I'll be there. Just remember, I love you and I always will." And she bent down and kissed her very softly on the forehead.

Rebecca reached out and grasped her hand. "And I love you too Cassie. It'll be okay. We'll get back to normal eventually, I promise. I love you too much to let this change anything. It'll take a while is all."

Squeezing her hand, Cassie left the suite. O'Neill was waiting on a chair just outside the room. As soon as he saw Cassie, he jumped up. He gave one look at her tense face and pulled her into a bear hug. "Hey Short Stuff," he soothed. "We'll make it right. All of us."

And he held the girl he thought of as his niece as she gave way to the relief of tears.

**SG SG SG SG SG SG SG SG**

"Okay," Janet said. "Just remember, anything you're uncomfortable with, or want me to stop, you just say so."

And very gently she took a warm washcloth and cleaned off Rebecca's dirty face, taking care with the bruises under her right eye. As the dirt came off, she saw a gash under the bruise, so cleaned that off too, dabbing antiseptic cream on it. She then took her hands, and washed them.

"Can I take your shirt off?" Janet asked. Rebecca nodded. Janet helped her into a sitting position. Now that the adrenaline of the rescue was wearing off, Rebecca was starting to ache horribly from the myriad contusions and cuts that her attacker had inflicted on her.

With Sharon at the other side of the bed, Janet peeled off the filthy shirt. She tried not to gasp when she saw the mosaic of bruises on the young woman's torso. Dried blood was caked onto several wounds, some of which looked deep. The bite-marks were particularly horrific.

"Okay, we need to get these cleaned up. You may need a couple of stitches. We can decide that once we've got all this dirt off." Janet felt it was important to talk Rebecca through everything she was doing. She dipped a soft sponge into warm water that held a light antiseptic wash. "This may sting a little. Be nice to be clean again though, huh?"

Rebecca nodded. She was hardly speaking, which didn't surprise Janet one bit.

"Once we're all done, we'll get you in a warm tub, won't that be nice?"

"Don't think I'll ever feel clean again," Rebecca's voice cracked.

"We'll be there for you, all the way," Janet told her with utter sincerity. "We're all going to help you."

She continued in her ministrations, cleaning the wounds and applying butterfly sutures to some of the deeper cuts. She could see Rebecca's bloodstained bra, which had hardened and stuck to her skin. She soaked it with warm water until it softened.

"I'm going to take your bra off now, okay sweetie?" Janet asked. Rebecca didn't respond. Janet smoothed her hand down her cheek, and put a supportive hand on her back, unsurprised to feel her trembling. "Can I take it off Rebecca?"

Rebecca nodded her agreement, so Janet unhooked it at the back and carefully slid it off her shoulders. She took special care when the badly bloodstained cup seemed to stick to the side of her left breast, running more warm water from the sponge over the area until it came loose easily. The sight that met her was terrible; it was clearly a bite, though it looked more like it had come from an animal than a human. The surrounding area was badly bruised, and the cut itself looked deep and was already infected. When Janet put her hand to the wound, she felt the skin too warm under her fingers.

"Okay," she swallowed, trying to hide her shock. "This one needs a good clean, and likely a couple of stitches. I'll numb the area first, okay?"

"Can we stop for a while?" Rebecca begged. "Just for a while. I don't think I can do this."

"Sure we can sweetie," Janet knew that forcing her to submit to any treatment would be counter-productive. "We're gonna do this at a speed you're comfortable with. Thanks Sharon," her nurse had brought another warm blanket and wrapped it round the shaking woman. "You want anything Rebecca?"

"Just want to be warm again," she replied in a shaky voice.

"You're in shock. I'd like to give you a mild sedative, I think that'll help. Can I do that?"

"Okay," Rebecca said.

A few minutes after the sedative had been given, her shaking eased. "You can continue now," Rebecca told Janet. "Let's get this done."

Janet recognized the young woman's bravery in continuing with the ordeal, and her heart broke for her. "Okay, we'll be as quick as we can," she gave her a quick reassuring hug. Swiftly she drained and cleaned the wound on Rebecca's breast, and inserted two stitches. Her heart was heavy as she recognized that the next part of the examination would be even harder, for both of them.

She helped Rebecca into scrubs on her top half. "You want to take your jeans off yourself?" she asked her. Rebecca tried to shift down the bed, fumbling at her waistband.

"Think I need help," she whispered.

"Okay, that's what I'm here for," Janet was businesslike. Her touch was gentle as she eased Rebecca's jeans down, followed by her underwear.

If she'd been appalled by what she'd already seen, this was nothing compared to what was in evidence now. No wonder Rebecca hadn't wanted Cassie to witness this.

"His name was Eddie," Rebecca said, unexpectedly, in a dull monotone. "They called him 'Crazy Eddie'. He does this with every woman they take. Brehme likes him to do it. Says it breaks them. Us. It breaks us. He has a few lines of coke first, to really get him in the mood. Helps him to last too. He said he likes to make the most of every opportunity. He was like an animal. It hurt so much. I was so dry; I thought I was going to split in two. Oh God." Rebecca felt the nausea rise in her suddenly. "Think I'm gonna be sick," she gasped, swallowing convulsively.

Fortunately, Sharon had noticed her changing expression, and managed to place an emesis bowl on Rebecca's lap in time. Janet held the shocked woman as she retched violently into the bowl. The vomiting continued for some minutes, as she fought to expel every last memory of her ordeal. Finally she collapsed, sobbing into Janet's arms.

Janet raced through the rest of the examination as fast as she could. She knew Rebecca couldn't take much more, but she also knew that the thought of having to come back to this could break her. So she cleaned and stitched the wounds, applying soothing antibiotic cream once she had finished. She then gave Rebecca a hefty dose of antibiotics to counter the infections that had already set. Finally, she took several vials of blood, to test against anything that 'Crazy Eddie' could have passed on.

"Thank you," Rebecca whispered. "Cassie's so lucky to have you as a mom."

**SG SG SG SG SG SG SG SG**

Janet and Sharon helped Rebecca into the tub in the adjoining bathroom. They gently soaped her down, washing her hair and cleaning her fingernails. After nearly an hour in the tub, Rebecca indicated that she was ready to get out.

Sharon had already collected a pair of Sam's brush cotton pajamas that she kept in her and Janet's quarters. Janet knew that Sam found them warm and comforting, and hoped they'd be more comfortable for Rebecca than infirmary scrubs. Sam was only an inch or so taller than Rebecca, so they were a fairly good fit.

Once they were done, Janet helped Rebecca into a wheelchair, and wheeled her down the corridor to the guest quarters. Sharon had already been in, and turned on the electric blanket in the bed. She had also, somehow, managed to get hold of some cut flowers which she had put on the nightstand. Janet was touched by her thoughtfulness; she had sent one of the guys out to get them, she guessed.

She tucked Rebecca up in the warm bed, and took her hand. "Anything you need?" she asked her.

"Cassie," Rebecca replied. "I want Cassie."

Cassandra responded immediately to the request, and was by the bedside in moments. "Hold me," Rebecca asked. So Cassie climbed gingerly on the bed next to her, and gathered her in her arms.

"Shh," she told her. "It's gonna be okay." And she rocked her gently until finally the sedative took hold. It was going to be a long road, Cassie realized that. But it was a journey they would travel together, with the support of all those who loved them.


	15. Ripples

As Janet left Cassie and Rebecca, she prayed that she would never have to go through another day like that one. Everything in her wanted to protect Cassie, and by extension therefore also Rebecca, from the harshness of the world, but she had not been able to do that.

She knew 'this' Cassie was not her real daughter - and in fact not even her 'real adopted' daughter, but since her arrival in this reality, and especially over the last few weeks, she had grown to love her as much as the 'first' Cassie. So watching her anguish as her lover was first abducted and then assaulted was heartbreaking for her.

At least they were all back safe, she told herself. And the perpetrators were all dead, though she was a bit vague on the details of exactly what happened. Sam would tell her later, she was sure.

Even during her examination of Rebecca, Janet's mind had wandered to Sam. She prayed that Sam was as little traumatized by her injuries as she had made out to Janet when she insisted that she tend to Rebecca. She knew that she had to have been in serious pain, but it did appear that the goon hadn't assaulted her sexually.

**SG SG SG SG SG SG SG SG SG SG SG **

"How is she?" Janet came straight to the point as she stood at Carolyn Lam's office door.

"Janet, you look exhausted," Carolyn exclaimed. "Sit down before you fall down," she instructed, guiding her into a chair. "She's fine," she reassured her. "She's been banged about a bit, but she's going to be okay. Three broken ribs, another one cracked. Broken wrist, two broken fingers. She's going to be real sore for a while. We've wrapped her ribs, and set her wrist and fingers, they were clean breaks, so she should recover full mobility. She won't be playing guitar for a while though."

Janet grinned wanly. "That's okay, I don't think she's gonna worry too much about that; she's lasted 37 years without playing the guitar, another couple months isn't going to kill her."

"Just what I thought," Carolyn replied with a smile. "So how about you, Janet?" The new doctor was a perceptive woman.

"Not one of my ten best days," Janet admitted. "I never thought I'd have to carry out a rape examination on someone so close to me."

"And how is she?" Carolyn asked.

"Pretty traumatized, physically and mentally. I've never seen anything like that, even in books during training. It's kind of hard to believe that one human being could do that to another. Had to give her 13 stitches in all. A few of the cuts were quite badly infected. And the bruising was... well, just about the worst I've seen on her thighs," Janet swallowed.

"Fever?" Carolyn wanted to know.

"Only mild, thank goodness," Janet told her. "I've got her on broad spectrum antibiotics, so that should deal with it. Given her Plan B too," Janet was referring to the 'morning-after' contraceptive pill, "working here you forget that not every woman has the contraceptive injection. Just hoping that doesn't make her feel worse."

"Not everybody gets the side effects, though, do they?" Carolyn wasn't as confident as she sounded. She knew the chances of Rebecca escaping without some nausea and abdominal pain were pretty slim. "Janet, I'm so sorry about everything. What a shitty week you've had."

"At least they're back, safe," Janet was touched by the younger doctor's concern. "That's the most important thing. Can I go see her now?" she just wanted to see Sam, to reassure herself that she really was going to be okay.

"Sure," Carolyn agreed. "She'll probably be waking up soon anyway, so a friendly face won't hurt."

Janet smiled her thanks, and made her way to the private room she knew held her lover.

**SG SG SG SG SG SG SG SG SG SG SG **

Letting herself into the room, she took a sharp breath as she saw Sam's face. There was some bruising on the side of her face, probably from when she hit her head, but her colour was good and she was breathing without difficulty. "Oh Sam," Janet tried to keep her voice low. She drew a chair up to the side of the bed, and very gently took Sam's uninjured hand in her own. Sam seemed to sense this in her sleep, and squeezed her fingers. "You're safe," Janet whispered. "And you came back to me. Thank you honey, I couldn't do any of this without you."

**SG SG SG SG SG SG SG SG SG SG SG **

When Carolyn Lam looked in on the two lovers an hour later, she was unsurprised to see both women sound asleep, Janet's neck at a painful-looking angle. She knew that Janet wouldn't leave Sam's side that night, so she withdrew, returning a few minutes later, wheeling another infirmary bed. "Janet," she put her hand gently on her shoulder. "It's alright," she reassured her as she awoke with a start. "Everything's okay. S'just your neck's going to hurt like hell tomorrow if you stay like that. I know," she saw the small woman about to demur, "you're not leaving, that's fine. I've brought you another bed, we can push it up right next to Sam."

Janet was moved by Carolyn's kindness. Tiredly she changed into a set of scrubs Carolyn had brought, and climbed onto the bed that was pushed up against Sam's. Sam stirred in her sleep, looking up groggily to see Janet right next to her. "Hey," she said softly.

"Hey yourself," Janet replied. "How ya doin'?" she tried to keep her tone light, wanting to keep Sam as relaxed as possible.

"Great," Sam said, and tried to move over slightly to get closer to Janet. She didn't expect the sharp pain from her ribs, and gasped involuntarily.

"Great, huh?" Janet's voice was teasing. "You are great though, hon. And you'll feel better soon. No permanent damage. You'll be sore for a while though."

"No kidding," Sam's voice was pained.

"You can have some more pain relief in a few hours," Janet had checked Sam's chart. "Next time you wake up."

"M'okay," Sam told her. "Nothin' a few hours sleep won't fix."

"May take a little longer than that, sweetie. But everything's gonna be fine, I promise you," Janet's confident voice was reassuring to Sam, who, now she had woken, was in much more pain than she had expected.

"How's Rebecca?" Sam didn't want to ask the question, but she had to know.

"Says you saved her life," Janet told her. "She thinks you're just terrific. She's right, of course."

Sam could spot an evasion at 20 paces, and Janet knew that. "Okay, she's not too good honey. Cassie's with her now. He did a real number on her, Sam, physically and emotionally. I've never seen wounds like that, leastways not inflicted by a human," Janet's voice shook with emotion.

Sam reached out and put her hand in Janet's, threading her fingers through her lover's. "I'm glad it was you with her, Jan," she told her huskily. "At a time like that, you need somebody who understands, who helps you to regain control. You're just the right person for that situation."

Janet's blood ran cold. Sam was a highly intelligent woman, but what did she understand about the aftermath of rape?

"Sam?" she asked. "Oh God, please tell me it's not true. Did he touch you?"

"No, sweetie," Sam hurried to reassure her. "I didn't give him a chance."

"Spill," Janet's voice was icy.

Sam realized she had been rumbled. "Oh honey, it was nearly 20 years ago. It's gone now, over. Forgotten."

"Why didn't you tell me?" Janet was distraught.

"It was so long ago," Sam hedged, "I didn't think it mattered." Janet stared incredulously. "Okay, so that's not true. Honestly? I told the 'other' Janet, and it nearly destroyed us. She couldn't cope with what had happened to me, for months she wouldn't go near me. Our sex life went straight down the tube. She thought I needed to be treated with kid gloves. It took me so long to reassure her that I wouldn't break if she went near me. So this time? This time I was a coward. I didn't want you to suffer in the same way that she did. I didn't want 'us' to suffer either. I'm sorry, Jan."

Janet was staggered by Sam's revelation. "Oh Sam, I'm so sorry you couldn't talk to me about it. I understand your reasons sweetie, I'm sorry I snapped at you."

"You didn't snap," Sam tightened her grip on her fingers. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you about it before. I guess I wanted to be a different person with you in some way, too."

"So what did happen?" Janet asked gently.

"It really was a long time ago," Sam told her. "In college. All the other students were older than me, 23 or 24. I was 18; he was my lab partner. He just wanted to control me, I guess. I wasn't interested in him sexually, and I think he'd figured that I was gay, though I kept very quiet about it then. So late one night in the lab, just the two of us and a computer... he, he, 'helped himself' I guess is the right expression. But I'm over it, Janet, I promise," Sam's voice was steady and clear. "But I remember how I felt afterward. And that's how Rebecca will be feeling, and worse I imagine; she was attacked repeatedly, with violence thrown in. That's gotta be worse."

Janet thought back to her times with the brutal Roger; Sam saw the cloud passing over her face.

"Roger?" Sam asked.

Janet nodded. "He didn't always give me much of a choice," her voice hitched.

"Shit," Sam said. "Of course. We'll be okay, hon," she saw a tear slide down Janet's face. "We'll all be okay. Rebecca too; she's got Casssie, and Cassie's got us. If anybody can pull them through, we can." Sam's eyelids were drooping.

Janet nodded. "Damned straight we can," she pulled herself together. "We're a family. We stick together."

And she lay down next to her bruised and battered lover, carefully keeping hold of Sam's hand. She pulled the fingers to her mouth and kissed them tenderly. "We're all gonna be fine," she whispered, seeing that Sam had fallen off to sleep again. "Better than fine; we're all gonna be happy. Everything'll work out."


	16. Baby Steps

After spending three nights in the infirmary, Sam was itching to escape. She knew Janet was only doing her job, but she had had enough of pokings, proddings and questions. She just wanted to get home, and to take her family with her.

She kept quiet, though, knowing that just two floors down, Cassie and Rebecca were having a much tougher time than she was. Cassie had been up to see her only that morning, and had tried to reassure her that they were both doing well. She could see from the tension in her face, and the black bags under her eyes, that her daughter wasn't being entirely honest with her. "It's gonna take a while, Cass," she told her gently. "But with your support, Rebecca'll come through it. She does love you, you just have to let her take things at her own pace."

Cassie nodded. "I'm trying to," she told her parent. "It's just so hard, to see what that bastard did to her." In truth, Cassie hadn't actually 'seen' what he had done to Rebecca. Rebecca was still reluctant to let her lover see her wounds - in any case, she was, understandably, wary of touching and nudity - so Cassie was trying her best to respect her boundaries, and to make things as easy as possible for her.

Rebecca insisted that Cassie sleep in the same bed as her, while explaining haltingly that, for the time being at least, she wasn't ready to resume any physical intimacy. "That's okay, baby," Cassie told her. "Just being in the same room as you is enough for me."

"We will get back to normal," Rebecca promised her, "soon. I swear."

Cassie took her hand in her own, "You call the shots, BeC," she told her. "Whatever. Whenever. You just tell me what you need."

Rebecca nodded. "Thanks," she said, in a quiet voice. "I will."

**SG SG SG SG SG SG SG SG SG**

Sam was thrilled later that day when Janet came up to her bed, gave a cursory glance at her charts, and grinned at her. "Bet you're ready to go home, huh?" she asked, a mischievous glint in her eye.

"Oh God yes," Sam breathed, relief evident in her face.

"Tomorrow, then," Janet promised. She noticed the disappointed look on Sam's face; her lover had hoped to get out there and then. "Oh okay, now, but only if we stay in our quarters tonight. We can go home in the morning, assuming everything's fine."

"What about the girls?" Sam asked, knowing that Janet wouldn't consider leaving them at such a sensitive time.

"They're coming back with us," Janet reassured her. "I've just been down to see them. They're gonna stay with us to start with, at least until they get their own apartment."

"So how is Rebecca?" Sam was almost fearful to ask.

"Physically?" Janet said. "She's doing well. Fever's completely gone, the bruising's going down, and her wounds are healing nicely. She'll likely have only one nasty scar, the rest are fading already. She may want to consider plastic surgery later. Mentally... well, she's trying real hard to deal with it, but it's not going to get better overnight. You know that better than anyone, of course."

"Having Cassie's gonna help her," Sam was convinced of the truth of her remark. "They love each other so much. Cass is a good person; she'll help her any way she can. In a way, she's much older than her years. I suppose suffering so much at an early age has given her a better understanding of people than some others. She won't put any pressure on her."

Janet leant forward and kissed her on the forehead. "I'm sure you're right Sam," she smiled.

**SG SG SG SG SG SG SG SG SG**

Later that evening, Sam smiled widely as Janet helped her into bed in their quarters. One of the reasons she had been so keen to get out of the infirmary was so that she could once again share the bed with Janet. Apart from that first night, when Janet slept on another bed pushed up next to hers, she had been alone in the infirmary, and she had gotten lonely. She knew she wasn't up to making love yet - her sore ribs and hand meant that it would be another few weeks before they could get back to normal in that department, but what she missed even more than that was Janet's small, perfect body next to hers. Janet helped settle her comfortably in the bed, using a stack of pillows at her back so that Sam was partly on her side. Sam had discovered, through trial and error, that this angle put the least pressure on her damaged ribs. It also had the added benefit that she could face Janet. She reached out to her lover and Janet, very carefully, snuggled into Sam, taking care not to jar her.

"Missed you," Sam told her in a quiet voice.

"Me too, hon," Janet said, burrowing into Sam's front, inhaling the scent that was so entirely her. "So much. We're okay now, though, aren't we?"

"Oh yeah," Sam agreed. "We're great. And the girls will be okay, in time."

"Thanks to you," Janet said, "getting Rebecca away from those goons."

"Not just me," Sam reminded her. "It was a team effort."

"You're the one that took all the risks," Janet's voice was strained. "I just thank God that you're gonna be okay."

"I'm okay now," Sam said. "I'm here, with you, and the rest of our family is safe. Can't get much more okay than that."

Janet kissed her softly. "Sleep now, hon," she told her.

"'night," Sam was already drifting off.

"Goodnight sweetie," Janet replied.

**SG SG SG SG SG SG SG SG SG**

In the way home in the car the next day, Sam noticed that Rebecca seemed nervous, almost twitchy, and clung tightly to Cassie's hand all the way home. She and Janet tried to keep their voices low, trying not to startle her. Once they got to the house, Cassie led Rebecca upstairs and took her to her room. "This is my room, Bec," she told her, "you can come in here with me, or you can sleep in the spare room next door, whichever you're most comfortable with."

"Can I stay with you?" Rebecca's voice was small and frightened. "If that's okay?"

"Of course it's okay, baby," said Cassie. "It's what I want, more than anything. I just didn't want you to feel you had to come in with me."

"I do," Rebecca. "I don't want to be alone."

"Then you never have to be," Cassie's voice was gentle.

The rest of the day passed off quietly. Janet made Sam go and lie down for a couple of hours while she went grocery shopping, and then they spent most of the afternoon in the kitchen together, Janet cooking, Sam just watching her, basking in her presence. Cassie showed Rebecca round the house and the garden, and noticed that her lover wasn't really paying attention. She could tell that every new noise startled her, and just wanted to hold her in her arms to reassure her that everything would be okay. She followed Rebecca's lead, though, and tried to pretend that everything was normal. It was obviously what her lover wanted.

Rebecca ate very little at supper; she hadn't eaten much since her kidnap, and Janet had warned Cassie not to fuss her, and that her appetite would return in time. So Cassie said nothing, and when at about 2100hrs, she noticed her lover's eyes drooping, she led her up to the bedroom.

Before the kidnap, she and Rebecca had had no inhibitions with each other at all, and even on the rare nights when they didn't make love, they still enjoyed watching each other undressing. However, all that was different now, and in the awkward few days since Rebecca's return, they had developed a routine where Cassie would change clothes in the bathroom, and by the time she emerged, Rebecca would be in her pajamas. These Rebecca kept buttoned up almost to the throat; she still didn't want Cassie to see her wounds. The reason for this was twofold; she knew it would be horribly traumatic for Cassie to see the angry scars - it was one thing knowing what had happened to her, but quite another being faced with the physical evidence. Secondly, a small part of her was frightened that Cassie would no longer find her attractive. And she didn't even want to contemplate physical intimacy yet, so it was easier for her not to face the issue yet. Cassie was kind, and gentle, and understood totally that she wasn't ready.

So the two young women climbed into the bed. They no longer wrapped themselves in each other's arms, as they had previously. Now they faced each other, their faces almost, but not quite, touching, their breaths intermingling. Cassie forced herself not to reach out to her lover, wanting Rebecca to make all the choices in that department. So she was thrilled, this first night in the family home, when Rebecca tentatively reached out and grasped her hand, lacing their fingers together, and held tight.

Eventually they fell off to sleep, though Rebecca's sleep was again disturbed, and more than once she woke up, gasping with fear, convinced she was back at the disused airstrip. Her dreams were confused, and violent, and Cassie spent a good deal of the night soothing her back to sleep. At about 3am, Cassie was woken when Rebecca shot upright violently, and backed herself against the wall, screaming in fear. The moonlight streaming through the skylight illuminated her face, and Cassie realized she wasn't fully awake. "Bec, baby, it's okay. It's over, you're safe." Cassie risked putting her hand on her lover's arm, and was reassured when, after flinching initially, Rebecca looked at her, seemingly realizing who she was, and stopped screaming. Her face crumpled, and she started to weep, huge, gut-wrenching sobs that shook her whole body. Cassie wrapped her arms round her lover, and pulled her to her, holding her tight, desperately trying to impart some of her own strength.

The bedroom door opened, and Cassie saw Janet's worried face in the doorway. "We're okay," she told her mom in a soft voice. "We're okay."

Janet nodded. "Can I check her over?" she asked Cassie.

"I think that should be alright. Rebecca, is it okay if Mom just takes a quick look? She might be able to help."

Rebecca nodded miserably, so Janet slipped quietly into the room. She helped Rebecca to sit up, smoothing her sweat-soaked hair away from her brow. "Bad dream, huh?" she asked.

"Yeah," Rebecca's voice was hoarse. "Sorry to wake you all. I'm such a fuck-up." And to Janet's dismay, she started to weep again.

"No you're not honey," Janet reassured her. "This is entirely normal. And it won't last for ever." She took up Rebecca's wrist and noted that her pulse was racing, which she had expected. "Can I give you a light sedative?" Janet asked her. "Nothing strong, it won't freak you out. It'll just help you relax, help you sleep. You need to sleep," she could see how exhausted the young woman was.

"Okay," Rebecca said, and Janet left the room to collect her bag, returning in a moment with a syringe. She deftly injected the sedative, pressing cotton wool into the injection site. "She'll sleep for a few hours now," she told Cassie. "Call me if you need me."

"Thanks Mom," Cassie said. "Sorry."

"Nothin' to be sorry for," Janet's voice was firm. "You're doing great, Cassie, you're just what she needs. It'll take time, but she'll get there. You both will."

**SG SG SG SG SG SG SG SG SGSG SG SG SG SG SG SG SG SG**

Back in their bedroom, Sam had sat up, and switched on the light on the nightstand. "She okay now?" she asked Janet, as soon as she returned.

"Yeah, for the moment," Janet replied, tiredly. "I've given her a sedative, she'll sleep now. Poor Cassie," she added, "it's almost as hard on her."

Sam nodded, understanding only too well what her daughter and lover were going through.

"D'you think you could talk to her?" Janet asked. "To Rebecca, I mean. I know you don't want to bring up the past, but maybe it would help her, to know that you can recover?"

"Of course," Sam replied. "I'll do it tomorrow. I know her experience was worse than mine, by far, but I'll do what I can. Maybe if she knows, she won't feel quite so isolated. You feel like a freak when it happens, and a small part of you feels responsible. Crazy, I know, but that's what happens. I'll see if I can get her to talk to me."

Janet kissed her, and snuggled up close. "Love you," she said.

"Love you too, honey," Sam reached out to touch her lover's face.

**SG SG SG SG SG SG SG SG SG**

The next day, Janet and Cassie withdrew to the kitchen after lunch, and Sam persuaded Rebecca to come out into the garden. From the kitchen window, Janet and Cassie could see the two women sit down on the bench by the fish pond, and noticed Sam taking Rebecca's hand, looking at her intently with those fabulous blue eyes of hers. They stayed out their for what seemed like an age, and after talking for a long time, they saw Sam finally draw Rebecca into a tight embrace. Sam and Rebecca returned into the house after nearly two hours, and it was with great relief that Cassie saw that Rebecca had lost some of the haunted look from her face.

There was no such thing as a quick fix, though, and Rebecca continued to suffer from disturbed nights, still often waking to find herself sobbing in Cassie's arms. But gradually Cassie was able to quieten her faster, and Rebecca started to encourage more physical contact, so that now they fell off to sleep in each other's arms.

**SG SG SG SG SG SG SG SG SG**

After about six weeks, when Sam had been back at work for a fortnight, Janet was rostered to work nights for four days. Janet hated nights, they made her tired and irritable, and she missed Sam in her bed during the day. But Sam suggested that they stay at the base for those few days, reasoning that perhaps Cassie and Rebecca could do with some time to themselves. "And," her eyes twinkled when she suggested it to Janet, "if you have a quiet period in the infirmary, maybe you could come visit?" Now that Sam's ribs and hand were healed, the two women had resumed their very active love life.

Janet grinned. Maybe nights weren't SO bad after all?

**SG SG SG SG SG SG SG SG SG**

That night, back at the house, Cassie emerged from the bedroom, to see her lover standing by the window. The moonlight bathed her face, accentuating her stark beauty. Cassie swallowed; she had never seen Rebecca look more beautiful, even more so as she didn't know Cassie was looking at her. "Hey," Cassie said softly.

Rebecca turned and looked at her, a determined expression on her face. "Hey," she replied.

"You okay?" Cassie was concerned, Rebecca seemed almost spaced out.

"Just thinking," Rebecca told her. "It's time, I think."

"Time for what, baby?" Cassie asked.

"For you to see me. If we're ever going to get back to normal, you have to see what I am now. Most of my scars have faded, and the bruising's all gone. But there's one scar," Rebecca's voice hitched in her throat. "It's real ugly. But I think I want you to see it now. Is that okay?"

"Of course it's okay," Cassie said. "You'll still be the most beautiful thing I've ever seen, I don't care how many scars you've got. You're still you."

"Not after you've seen this I won't," Rebecca looked small and scared.

Cassie took her face in her hands. "You will. I don't think I could ever love you more than I do at this very moment. You don't have to do this, but if you want to, I'm with you every step of the way."

Rebecca nodded miserably. "'kay," she said, so quietly that she was almost inaudible. And, with shaking hands, she unbuttoned her pajama top. She didn't pull the sides of the top apart from each other. "Right breast," she whispered to Cassie.

"May I?" Cassie asked, gesturing to the top. Rebecca nodded again. Very gently and slowly, Cassie removed the top. She hadn't seen Rebecca's breasts in nearly two months, and she delighted at the sight of them, the pink nipples standing proud. She couldn't see any scar.

"Side," Rebecca tried to keep her voice steady.

Cassie reached out and very gently lifted her right breast, turning to see the side of it. And then she saw it. The scar was angry and raised, and she tried to suppress a gasp. If this was what it looked like after all this time, what must that animal have done to her? "I'm glad that bastard's dead," the words slipped out before she could stop them.

"I know it's real ugly," Rebecca said. "I know you'll never want to touch me there again," her voice was shaking.

"Oh baby, you can never be ugly to me," Cassie told her. "What he did to you was ugly. Real ugly. But this is you, this is part of you. I could never find that ugly." And she leant forward, and very gently pressed her lips against the livid scar. "I love every single inch of you. Even your scar. Thank you," there were tears in her eyes. "Thank you for trusting me enough to show this to me."

And she helped her back into the pajama top, buttoning it up for her, and led her to the bed, where they held each other tight. She could feel Rebecca trembling slightly, but she recognized that they had taken a significant step forward that night. They were taking baby steps back to a normal life. It was a hard journey, but they would travel it together, with support from Sam and Janet.


	17. Lifestyle Changes

The next six months passed quickly in the Carter-Fraiser-Hagan household. All four women adjusted remarkably quickly to sharing the living space, even if the house sometimes seemed very full. Sam, in particular, reveled in the sense of 'family' that permeated the house, and it seemed to her that the others were happy too. At times, she thought wistfully of the 'first' Janet, but she felt confident that she - they - had all made the right decisions. She would never forget the first Janet, and would always mourn her loss, but this was a second chance at a real family, and she wasn't going to let it go.

As for Cassie and Rebecca, they seemed more than happy with the way things had turned out. Rebecca still had flashbacks from her assault, and the whole family realized it was something from which she would never fully recover - she'd certainly never be able to forget it. But she had steadfastly refused to let it destroy her and, with the help of her new family, and particularly Cassandra, she was coming back more and more into the world. A major part of her recovery was being able to reclaim her love life; Cassie's tenderness, and understanding, had enabled Rebecca to take things at her own pace. Finally, in the last month, they were pretty much back to where they had been before the attack. Yes, a certain amount of spontaneity was still missing, and she knew that Cassie sometimes held back until she took the initiative, but these were minor glitches that would be resolved over time. What Rebecca Hagan did know was that Cassandra Fraiser was the woman she wanted to be with, to get old with. And she knew that the feeling was mutual.

Sam was so content with the status quo that when Cassie and Rebecca came into the living room, with a serious look on their faces, she figured that the moment she had dreaded had finally come. The girls wanted to move out, she was sure of it. And she understood, they wanted more space, they wanted their own place. It was inevitable, but she had hoped they would have a bit more time together, another couple of months. She reached out for Janet's hand.

"Sam, we want to talk to you," Cassie began.

"Sure honey, go ahead," Sam tried to keep her voice light. She wasn't going to pressure them, she wanted to do what was right for them all.

"We've loved living here," Cassie began.

"But you think it's time to go. It's okay, we understand," Sam tightened her grip on Janet's hand. She was, inexplicably, close to tears. Despite the horrible traumas that had precipitated this unusual living arrangement, she genuinely felt that the last few months had, in many ways, been among the happiest of her life.

"Actually, no," Cassie said, with a worried look on her face.

"No?" Sam asked. "You want to stay a bit longer? That's great Cass, Rebecca. You know the room's yours as long as you want it."

"No, it's not that," Cassie tried to explain. She felt Rebecca's hand on her back.

"Cassie's making no sense," Rebecca interjected. "She doesn't want to say the wrong thing. So I'm just going to come right out with it. We love it here. Both of us. You've made us so welcome, and safe. We love living with you two."

"So what's the problem?" Sam felt that she must be missing something. "You know you can stay as long as you want."

"We want to make it permanent," Cassie said, her words tumbling out. "We wanna live as one big family. For ever. If you'll have us. And it's not 'cos of what happened. Well, that was what made us realize that it works. People always used to live in the same house, lots of different generations. In some countries they still do. In Africa they do." She realized she was rambling.

"Are you finished?" Sam's voice sounded stern, but the others could see the tell-tale quirk of her lips, and knew she was only seconds away from breaking into a huge grin. The grin arrived, and Sam leapt off the couch, virtually flinging herself at her daughter. "Oh honey, that's the best news I've had in a long time. C'mere," she gestured to Rebecca and Janet, and soon the four women were hugging, and crying, and laughing.

After they had all calmed down from the excitement, the four women had dinner together, and started hammering out the logistics of the arrangement.

"Well you can't stay in that room," Sam waved her fork at the young lovers. "That's far too small for two of you, and your en-suite bathroom is tiny. The shower's cramped, you've got no bath. No, we're gonna have to remodel."

"Actually, Sam," Janet interjected. "I've got a better idea. Why don't we extend the house? There's all that space over the garage, we could get at least two storeys over that. Then we could knock out some of the walls downstairs, extend the kitchen into the study, move the study upstairs into Cassie and Rebecca's room. I think we could get two, maybe three bedrooms over the garage, as well as a good-sized bathroom. And then if, at some time in the future, the family should grow in any way," Rebecca and Cassie blushed at this, "there'll be plenty of room."

Sam immediately realized that 'her girls' had been plotting behind her back. "You've all talked about this already, haven't you?" she accused. "You've got it all organized!"

Cassie grinned. "Well, we thought perhaps we should prepare the ground. We knew you'd worry about space, so we thought we should come up with a plan."

"And the plan is perfect," Sam smiled. "Just perfect."

"We want to pay for it ourselves," Rebecca said, "I've sold my apartment in Washington. We'll pay for all the remodeling, everything."

"But who's gonna pay for psychiatric treatment for Janet?" Sam's eyes twinkled with mischief.

"Sam?" Janet's voice had a dangerous edge to it.

"Well, sweetie, if we're remodeling, you're going to be without a kitchen for a few weeks. Can you handle that? Aren't you afraid that'll tip you over the edge?" she was laughing openly now.

"No problem," Janet was nonchalant. "I'll just get my lover to take me out to dinner each night. She won't mind, I've got her wrapped round my little finger."

"S'that right?" Sam couldn't keep the smile out of her voice. "Well you may just be right about that. Right now, I'm so happy I could just burst. I think you could probably talk me into almost anything."

"Just one thing, though, Sam," Janet's grin was a mile wide. "The new kitchen. It'll be mine. And Rebecca's. You and Cassie are to keep well away. You're only to come in for coffee, or if we need a drain unblocking. Or a mousetrap set."

"That's fine by me," Sam and Cassie spoke in tandem, and then laughed out loud at the synchronicity.

Later that night, in bed, Sam snuggled up to Janet, and buried her face in her front.

"Happy?" Janet asked, running her hand through Sam's soft, golden hair.

"You bet," Sam's voice was muffled and dreamy. "More than you can imagine."


	18. Bathroom Fittings

Nearly 18 months later, and the Carter-Fraiser-Hagan house was in total chaos. Sam and Rebecca had between them designed a luxurious extension to the house, which included a two-storey addition over the garage. This area was to house Cassie and Rebecca, and included three bedrooms and a large bathroom.

The kitchen in the main part of the house had been almost doubled in size, and Janet and Rebecca were delighted with this development. It seemed to Sam and Cassie that the two women competed to cook the most complicated, exotic and adventurous meals. They were good companions in the kitchen, and appeared to spend most of their time in there laughing and poking fun at their domestically challenged partners. Sam's cooking was a particular source of humour, and she had long since given up on any idea of defending herself. She was happy for the chefs to 'do their thing' and usually decamped to the garage, or the study, or to sit in the garden with Cassie.

On this day, the bathroom suite for the 'garage apartment' was delivered, and Sam delightedly signed for the delivery. She had overseen most of the developments in the house, and her practical skills had been put to great use. Even so, Janet was surprised to see the bathroom suite arrive, with no plumbers on site. It was not like Sam to waste a single day. "When's the plumber due, sweetie?" she asked Sam, who was on her hands and knees inspecting all the porcelain for possible flaws.

"Plumber's here," Sam replied, from behind the bath panel.

"Where?" Janet looked round, there was nobody around. Peering out of the window, she saw no vehicles that suggested a plumber was on his way in to get on with the work.

"Here!" Sam stood up straight, grinning widely. "Did I never tell you about my plumbing expertise?"

"You're kidding, right?" Janet was incredulous. "Just when did you get the time to learn plumbing?"

Sam laughed, a blush creeping up the side of her face. "The summer I was 16," she told her. "We had a new bathroom put in. Our plumber just happened to be a woman, and she was keen to ... let's just say, she was keen to show me how things worked. She was a great teacher. Told me I was a quick study. I learned a lot that summer."

"Samantha Carter!" Janet shrieked with laughter. "Are you telling me that you learned about more than plumbing that summer?"

Sam took Janet in her arms. "Let's just say, until you've made love in a half-finished bathroom, you haven't really lived! There's just something about a woman in a toolbelt, don't you think?" And she ran her hand through Janet's auburn hair, and pulled her into a deep kiss.

"The bathroom's not even started yet," Janet pulled away, a wide smile on her face. "Call me when you've made some progress," and she slapped Sam lightly on the backside and disappeared downstairs.

Sam was left gaping after her. "That's a date," she said, huskily, to an empty room. And found her toolbelt. This was going to be one hell of a bathroom.

**SG SG SG SG SG SG SG SG**

In the event, it took Sam nearly three days to complete the bathroom. The multi-head shower that she had persuaded Cassie and Rebecca was an 'absolute necessity' was wonderful, but getting all the pipes in the right place was more complicated than it looked. But by the end of the second day, she had it licked, as well as the bath and the sink, so it was with a light heart that she headed up to the room on the third day, knowing that she only had the toilet to connect, and some sealant to apply.

She'd forgotten the joke with Janet, so was startled to see her lover appear in the doorway in the middle of the morning. She looked up from her position on the floor, where she was tightening a joint in the plastic piping. "Hey sweetie," she called. "Thought you were working today?"

"Decided to take some hours owing to me," Janet's face was full of mischief. "I believe you have some... plumbing techniques to impart." She tried, and failed, to keep a straight face. "And that really is some toolbelt," she lowered herself to the floor and fingered the leather belt at Sam's waist. Sam looked so hot, her strong arms clearly defined in the sleeveless t-shirt, her muscles taught as she put pressure on the awkward joint. And that toolbelt really was a good look on her, Janet realized, she hadn't been kidding when she'd said that.

"So you want to learn all about plumbing, do you, hon?" Sam reached over and toyed with the buttons on Janet's uniform shirt. "Well you really have to start at the beginning. This type of clothing is really very inappropriate for ... getting at the u-bends."

"Wanna do something about that, then, lover?" Janet's tone was teasing, though her voice was already low and lustful.

"I think that would be good," Sam replied, her talented hands already freeing Janet from her restrictive clothing.

"We should lock the door," Janet gasped.

"No lock," Sam grinned, pointing to the plastic-wrapped lock mechanism on the floor near the door. "That's next on my list."

"The girls!" Janet was concerned. After all, it was one thing being an open and affectionate family; it was quite another to come home and find your parents in flagrante on the bathroom floor.

"At the tile shop," Sam's breathing had quickened. "Be at least another hour."

"We shouldn't waste any time then, eh?" Janet, "you'd better show me all about the monkey wrench."

So Sam did.

**SG SG SG SG SG SG SG SG**

It was over two hours before the younger women returned from the tile shop, and by that time, Sam and Janet were seated in the kitchen, drinking coffee and giggling like schoolgirls.

"What's so funny?" Cassie demanded as she came into the kitchen.

"Nothin'," Janet smirked.

"Bathroom's done," Sam told her, "or at least all the suite's in."

"Sam, you're a genius!" Cassie flung her arms round her parent.

"She sure is, Cass," Janet agreed. "She's got a real way with that wrench," and she and Sam both collapsed with laughter.

"I don't think I want to know," Cassie laughed. "We got the tiles, they're beautiful."

"Where's Rebecca?" asked Janet.

"Just coming, she's at the car," Cassie replied.

"Well she'd damn well better not be lifting anything heavy," Janet's tone was sharp, as she got off her chair, in order to drag Rebecca inside the house.

"I'm not," Rebecca's voice was full of laughter. She'd heard Janet as she reached the doorway, "unless you count a wastebasket for the bathroom," she was brandishing the item in her hand. "Anyway Janet, we've been through this. I'm not sick."

Janet looked up, and saw her daughter's lover in the doorway, blooming with health and happiness. "I know you're not sick," she replied, getting up to give her a hug. She ran a hand over Rebecca's distended belly. "But you are six months' pregnant. I don't want you taking any risks."

Rebecca returned the hug. "I'm as safe as I can be," she couldn't quite keep the emotion out of her voice. "My family's looking after me."

Sam and Cassie smiled. Life was good. And it was getting better every day.


	19. Bringing Up Baby FINAL CHAPTER

Nine months earlier, Sam and Rebecca had finalized all the drawings for the house extension. The household had agreed that three bedrooms over the garage would be ideal. That night in bed Rebecca turned to Cassie. "You know those three bedrooms?" she asked her lover.

"Hmm," Cassie was more interested in divesting Rebecca of her pajama top than she was in discussing domestic arrangements.

"Not yet, Cass, listen," Rebecca was slightly impatient.

Cassie sat up, "Sorry, baby, what about the bedrooms?"

Well it makes sense to have a spare one, for visitors, or a study. Or even a mini-gym," Cassie pulled a face - she was not a huge fan of what she termed 'pointless exercise'. "But the other room," Rebecca went on. "I think we should use it."

Cassie was confused. "What d'you mean Bec? You're not making any sense."

"Don't you think the room would look cute with a cot in it?" Rebecca smiled, wistfully. "What would you say to us having a baby?"

"Wow!" Cassie was awestruck. "Really? Us? Together?" Her initial reaction was shock, and surprise. But a grin spread slowly across her face. "You know, Bec, I can't think of anything I'd like more. But you should have it, I want to see a small Rebecca running about the place. Wow. Can we really do it, d'you think?"

Rebecca took her hand, and looked deep into her eyes. "Why not?" she asked.

"Yeah," Cassie smiled her agreement. "Why not indeed?"

**SG SG SG SG SG SG SG**

The two women had many discussions about what to do for a father for their child. They talked to Janet and Sam, and even Daniel. In fact, it was Daniel who came up with the solution.

"What about Rya'c?" he had asked. "He and Kar'yn have got four kids now, so their family's complete. He's a good-looking man, and Teal'c would be excited to have a grandchild on the same planet for a change."

Cassie and Rebecca exchanged excited glances.

Once the decision had been made, everything seemed to happen incredibly fast. As Daniel had predicted, Rya'c was delighted to help out, and he knew that the young women would be amazing parents. He also had a very soft spot for 'Colonel Carter', as he insisted on calling her, and knew that she and Janet would be an integral part of the family.

It took only two attempts for Rebecca to fall pregnant, to the absolute delight of her 'mothers-in-law', as she teasingly referred to them, ignoring Sam's mock scowl whenever she did so. The evening that Rebecca and Cassie told Sam and Janet of their success was a magical one, and the house was suffused with happiness and hope.

**SG SG SG SG SG SG SG**

Sam woke with a start at 0200hrs the next morning. "Shit!" she cried out, still half asleep.

Janet was immediately awake. "Sam? Honey?" she asked, in a worried tone.

Sam shook herself. "Sorry sweetie, it's okay. I just realized that we've got to get the house ready before Junior arrives."

Janet laughed. "There's months to go yet Sam," she reassured her.

"Well we've got to step on it, these things can take years you know," Sam was already planning ahead.

"Sam," Janet's voice was firm. "We'll draw up a schedule first thing tomorrow. You need to sleep now. So do I, I've got a very nice dream I'd like to get back to."

Sam had the grace to look sheepish.

"Anyway," Janet laughed. "There's one thing I thought you'd be much more concerned about."

"What?" Sam asked.

"You're gonna be a grandmother, honey, AND you're gonna be 40, both in the same year." Janet was laughing openly.

Sam paled. "Oh God. I'll have to be a grown-up then, won't I?"

"Kinda lookin' that way," Janet replied.

"Well you're gonna be 40 first, next month if I recall correctly," Sam knew exactly when it was going to be, she'd already planned a special surprise.

"Oh yeah," Janet said with relish. "And I plan to be the hottest 40-year-old in the Springs."

"Definitely," Sam agreed. "No arguments from me on that one."

**SG SG SG SG SG SG SG**

"How far apart?" Janet demanded as she ran into the house. She and Sam had been at the mountain when they got the call that Rebecca was in labour.

"Twelve minutes," Cassie said. "She says it's all good."

"And it is, hon," Janet told her. Cassie had first been very against Rebecca having a home birth, but had finally been persuaded. They were only 20 minutes from the mountain, and Janet had delivered a great many babies, and they also had a great midwife on hand. Rebecca explained to Cassie that she would be so much more relaxed at home, so she gave in to her request.

Labour was long and hard, and Sam paced the living room throughout, feeling for all the world like a Victorian father in some bedroom farce. She had total faith in Janet's abilities, but still she worried.

Finally, just when she thought she would explode with anticipation, Sam heard the unmistakable cry of a baby, and moments after saw a tired but triumphant Janet on the landing.

"You're a grandmother, honey," she told Sam, simply. "A beautiful baby girl."

Sam bounded up the stairs, taking them three at a time, and swung Janet into her arms, kissing her desperately. "C'mon," Janet took her hand, and led her into the bedroom.

There, in front of them, were Rebecca and Cassie, huddled on the big bed together, beaming smiles over their tired faces. Rebecca held the most beautiful baby girl in her arms.

"I did it!" Rebecca was exhausted but still on an adrenalin high.

"You sure did," Sam was awestruck. She approached the baby, awestruck at this tiny person, who seemed to observe her approvingly, before latching on to her mother's breast.

"We've been talking," Cassie said, in a quiet voice. "Rebecca and I. Janet too, and we're all agreed."

"Agreed on what?" Sam couldn't take her eyes off the baby, and reached out involuntarily to touch her silky cheek.

"We've agreed on a name," Rebecca interjected. "And no arguments. Sam, you put your life on the line for me - and for Cassie, all those years ago. We're gonna call her Samantha. Samantha Claire Fraiser."

Sam was overcome with emotion. "Fraiser?" she asked, delighted to learn the baby would have Janet's last name.

"I'm changing my name to Fraiser," Rebecca explained. "We may not be allowed to marry yet, but I want everybody to know we're a family."

Sam nodded, tears in her eyes, not trusting herself to speak.

"Hello Samantha Claire," Janet whispered. "No baby has ever been more wanted."

**SG SG SG SG SG SG SG**

Three months after the arrival of Samantha Claire turned the Carter-Fraiser household upside down, Sam received a communication from Janet's old reality, via the inter-universal bridge. She and Dr Lee had been working on fine-tuning the technology, so it was tremendously exciting to be able to talk to the other reality.

The 'alternate' Rodney McKay was excited to talk to Sam through the bridge, and he had good news. Since Sam's 'visit' three years ago, he had been bankrolling Cameron Mitchell's medical bills. Since then, Mitchell had made excellent progress and, most days, was able to get around on two sticks, only needing his wheelchair when he was particularly tired. Even better though was the news that his romance with Sharon had gone from strength to strength, and he was planning to marry her the next month.

"Why don't you come for the ceremony?" McKay asked excitedly. "I'm going, and I know he'd love it if you two were there."

Sam was inspired by McKay's enthusiasm. During their conversation, he told her that martial law had finally been relaxed there, and that the government was treating its citizens with more respect; the atmosphere of fear was still there, but much less so, and great progress was being made toward restoring democracy.

"Okay," Sam told him, "I'll talk to Janet."

**SG SG SG SG SG SG SG**

Mitchell's face when he saw Sam and Janet was a picture; Sharon was also thrilled. There were hugs, laughter and tears. "It's only a flying visit," Janet told Sharon, "we just wanted to see you two happy."

"Oh we're happy alright," Mitchell answered for both of them. "And there's more good news," he placed his hand protectively over his wife's belly. "Or there will be in about seven-and-a-half months!"

Which reminded Sam, and she took a photo out of her purse.

"Don't tell me you two had a baby?" Sharon gasped.

"Not us," Janet told her. "This is our grandbaby."

"So tell me, doc," Mitchell fixed Janet with an intense look. "You think you made the right choice by leaving?"

Janet looked up at Sam, her beaming lover, holding a picture of their granddaughter in her hand. "Oh yeah," she said, her voice cracking with emotion. "Best move I ever made."

**THE END **


End file.
